RIP Roger Bridge

Chris Lynch reports:

Roger Bridge, a much loved, and long-serving member of the National Party and former chair of its Canterbury West Coast region, has died.

Bridge was widely respected within party circles for his dedication, loyalty, and tireless commitment to regional organisation and grassroots politics. …

Brownlee said he was “Always impeccably dress and devoted to jaguars. He was a most loyal friend for more than 30 years.

“His generosity was legendary and many will atest to that. He was on the first working group as a church appointee on the original Cathedral restoration committee. After a time as regional vice chair he became our national party regional chair in 2001 and joined the party board in 2003 serving in both rolls to 2020.

I knew Roger well. I attended uncountable conferences with Roger, and numerous dinners and drinks. He was a huge supporter of local MPs and party members.

Good friend Kate Freeman writes:

Farewell, dear Rog. A true old-school Canterbury gentleman; generous to a fault, and oh so wickedly such good fun. …

Over that time he navigated candidates and MPs, Ministers and Prime Ministers through mazes of political issues and of course the Canterbury earthquakes. He caused the odd stir too as many political players do.

But he was so much more than a wiley political operator, businessman and philanthropist. He was a friend.

His door was never closed over those years.

He didn’t bat an eyelid at piling a newborn Amelia into the back of his beautiful new Jaguar for letterbox dropping. Or hesitate to offer you a bed to stay if you were in town. And without fail, he was a willing dining companion. His generosity was legendary.

But perhaps equally splendid was his library. He was ridiculously well read. I once suggested to him that if I were to have a mental breakdown then I’d rather like to have it in his apartment and park up in one of his ample leather armchairs and make my way through his library. It was stunning! It was a boy’s library, perfect for political junkies who love global affairs. He felt there was no need to have a breakdown to wait to enjoy it. And he’d have meant it.

Kate describes him so well. He will be missed by so many.