National MPs stand by Jami-Lee Ross

National MP Jami-Lee Ross has support from his Caucus colleagues after announcing he will be taking leave from parliament for personal health reasons.

The Botany MP said in a statement he looks forward to returning to Parliament and re-joining Caucus in the future.

"Recently I have been dealing with some personal health issues," Mr Ross said in a statement.

"There are times in life where you have to put your own health and family first. As a husband and a father I need to do that at this time."

National MP Nikki Kaye took leave for health reasons after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. She told Newshub it's a challenging situation to be in.

At the time, Ms Kaye had her portfolios re-assigned by then-Prime Minister John Key. She returned to Parliament in December 2016 after receiving three months of treatment.

"It is really rare but again MPs are human and [Mr Ross] is obviously going through something and we just need to be really sensitive to that," she said.

"My heart goes out to him and I'm thinking of him."

Ms Kaye said going on leave can be tough and people need to respect Mr Ross.

'It's a challenging situation and I think we just need to be really respectful and thoughtful," she said.

Mr Ross's transport portfolio will be picked up by Paul Goldsmith and his Infrastructure responsibilities by Judith Collins.

Party leader Simon Bridges says the leave is not related to the investigation into the leaking of his expenses.

Newshub.

 

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