KEY POINTS:
Grahame Thorne is not a politician looking for sympathy votes.
The former All Black, whose family was thrown into turmoil after his son David, 21, was left disabled by a stroke after a rugby match last year, thinks he deserves to be elected to the Christchurch City Council
on his record.
"I don't think I have to [get sympathy votes] if you look at what I have done. I've always been very civic-minded and if I live in a place I want to put my name forward," said the former Onehunga MP.
Mr Thorne, 61, is perhaps the most recognisable among those competing in Christchurch's upcoming local body elections.
A Nelson city councillor, Mr Thorne has moved to Christchurch for his son David's care and is one of 49 candidates chasing 13 positions on the Christchurch council.
Former This is Your Life television host Bob Parker is a favourite among the 10 battling for the Christchurch mayoralty after long-serving mayor Garry Moore announced he would not seek re-election. Among the others is the former head of the extreme right-wing National Front, Kyle Chapman, and Christchurch television personality Jo Giles.
The battle for seats on the Canterbury District Health Board is shaping up as the most hotly contested in the country, with 34 candidates vying for seven spots.
Mr Thorne is not without his critics.
He has been attacked over his performance on the Nelson City Council and failure to attend meetings.
He was urged to resign from the council after his son's serious injury preoccupied his life, but has continued to collect the $26,674 salary because he needs the money. Ken Meredith, of the Nelson Residents' Association, said Mr Thorne's decision to stay on when he was inaccessible to ratepayers was "rather disgusting".
"If I were a Canterbury resident and he was standing in my ward, I would be looking at the other candidates with a much favoured eye, regardless of what their politics are."
Mr Thorne accepted his involvement with the Nelson council had become a "disaster".
"Probably, morally I am in the wrong, but at the moment my son is very important. There's a lot of people that hate me, and there's some that love me, but that's the way life is."
Mr Thorne said his son would likely never live independently.
Further south, iconic Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt is a hot favourite to regain the mayoral chains ahead of two lesser known candidates.