MPs have lashed out at David Clark on social media following the former Health Minister's resignation, with one poking fun at his past indiscretions.
Clark announced his resignation during an impromptu press conference in Parliament on Thursday, the embattled Dunedin North MP saying he had become a "distraction" from the Government's COVID-19 response.
Following the announcement, National Party MP Simeon Brown couldn't help but share a tongue-in-cheek reference to Clark's highly-publicised lockdown breaches.
"BREAKING NEWS: David Clark has resigned as Health Minister," Brown posted to his official Facebook page, followed by an emoji of a woman on her bike.
In April, it was revealed that Clark had gone mountain biking and driven 20km to the beach under alert level 4 lockdown, despite the restrictions forbidding New Zealanders from driving recreationally. It was later discovered he had also disobeyed ministry protocol and moved house under the stringent rules.
Clark publicly apologised for the breaches and offered the Prime Minister his resignation, which she refused. However, he was demoted to the bottom of her Cabinet rankings and stripped of his Associate Finance portfolio.
ACT Party leader David Seymour also laid into the former minister following his resignation announcement.
"Too much kindness, not enough competence. The PM was happy with a Health Minister who left the Beehive for the greatest health crisis in a century, broke the public health rules twice, and blamed the guy who did his job when it all went wrong. Even then, he had to sack himself."
Clark came under fire last week after Newshub footage showed him laying the blame for the Government's testing botch-up on Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the public servant standing behind him with a devastated expression.
The health portfolio has temporarily been given to Minister of Education Chris Hipkins.
