[3] Ardern first became a member of parliament due to the Taranaki-King Country by-election of 1998, which resulted from the retirement from politics of former Prime Minister Jim Bolger.
[5] He came to nationwide attention in late 2003 when he drove a tractor up the front steps of Parliament House as part of a protest against a proposed agricultural emissions research levy, nicknamed the "flatulence" or "fart tax".
[citation needed] Ardern announced he was stepping down from his seat in December 2013 and that he would remain an MP until the end of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.
[7] Since retiring from Parliament, Ardern has returned to his Central North Island farms, having been succeeded in the Taranki-King Country seat by Barbara Kuriger.
[5] Ardern has also begun advocating again at the grassroots levels for the Taranaki farming communities that supply Fonterra having been noted at several post-election forums held by the dairy industry.