Jokes flew about Bill English's grey hair and the small chair he left in his office for Simon Bridges, as the veteran National Party MP and former prime minister gathered with colleagues on his last day at Parliament today.
Mr English signed off after 27 years in Parliament and joked around with his successor as party leader, Simon Bridges, deputy Paula Bennett and close friend Nick Smith.
Mr Smith quizzed Mr English on how come Mr Bridges' hair is darker than the retiring leader's.
After almost three decades walking the halls of power, former prime minister Bill English has left the building. (Source: Other)
Mr English replied with an anecdote from one of his last official engagements in Tauranga when he was asked if he had been putting streaks in his hair.
Ms Bennett then wanted to know if Mr English had taken his chair with him, pointing to a small chair behind the desk.
This prompted Mr Bridges to note that "there wasn't as much as a Mars Bar" left in the office when he took it over.
"No, I think I just put Andrew Little's chair back," Mr English quipped.
Mr English congratulated Nick Smith on now becoming the Father of the House, the longest continuously serving MP.
"Does that mean people will finally respect me?" Mr Smith wondered, and was assured by Mr Bridges "you're halfway there mate".
A relaxed Mr English also held his last news conference with reporters in Parliament's foyer and was asked what's the hardest thing he had to get used to as an MP.
"Oh, in my case, I think just getting to grips with the TV camera really," he replied.
"I wasn't a natural for the TV camera. Most, many politicians are. I had to learn how to how to deal with it."
Asked how he feels when he looks back at footage of himself, he said "I don't look back at footage of me. I very rarely watch myself on TV actually."
Mr English added: "But the great benefit of the media scrutiny is it forces you to get your arguments into very easily understandable form for the general public. And I've always been a believer that most people can understand policy if a politician knows how to explain it properly."
The veteran MP is bowing out with few regrets about his political career and having moved from the "Siberia" wing of Parliament to its highest office.
"When I first came here I moved into prefabs out the back ot the Parliamentary Library which was kind of hard board floors, leaking walls, the smell of rotting chip board. And it was called Siberia. And I did wonder what I had come to.
"And I thought maybe Parliament could have offices where the roof didn't leak. So things have changed a bit."
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