National MP Maureen Pugh's mother has come to her defence, writing in to The AM Show to call Simon Bridges a "dumb arse".
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross released audio of a phone call between himself and Mr Bridges on Wednesday in which the party leader called Ms Pugh "f**king useless".
- Maureen Pugh stands by Simon Bridges despite 'useless' criticism
- Simon Bridges mocks 'useless' National MPs in just-released audio
June Brigg says her daughter is not useless at all, and works incredibly hard for the party.
"I would like to say something about Simon Bridges and the remark he made about my daughter Maureen Pugh," she wrote.
"He really must be a dumb arse as my daughter is a hard worker for National, she got more votes for them than any other [National Party member] on the West Coast, and to call her useless is insulting and a lie.
"As far as I'm concerned, he can go suck eggs and he'll never get our vote as long as he's in power."
Ms Pugh is 54th on the National Party list and the party's Associate Spokesperson for Children.
She served as Mayor of the Westland District for nine years and was the first female mayor elected on the West Coast.
Speaking to Newshub on Thursday she said her mother was very protective of her.
"I haven't seen the interview, but it doesn't surprise me," she said.
Soon after the audio was released on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Bridges said he'd met with Ms Pugh to apologise in person.
Ms Pugh said on Twitter she had accepted his apology and was ready to move on.
"Obviously I was disappointed to hear today's comments," she wrote on Twitter.
"But Simon has apologised and I have accepted that."
She said she may have annoyed Mr Bridges with consistent advocacy for the West Coast, where she is based.
"I'm glad that [Jami-Lee Ross] a man who deliberately released a recording that he knew would embarrass me is no longer in our caucus," she wrote.
"I continue to back Simon and we'll both move on from this now. "
Newshub.
