Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt ditches car for scooter

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt ditches car for scooter

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt tried his hardest to be noticed online during the recent election, but all he needed to do was ride a child's scooter to the shops.

The country's longest-serving Mayor was filmed riding the scooter in a suit on Wednesday, the clip shared widely on Facebook.

Mr Shadbolt, voted in for his eighth term this year, used social media for the first time to reach voters.

"This election, a hard-fought election, I went online for the first time - Facebook and all that. I'd discuss policy issues and maybe get 100 views or 100 likes or whatever they're called, and ironically this guy just films me out of his window going past his house and I get 120,000 views." 

But he insists he doesn't use the scooter to go everywhere.

The video was taken after Mr Shadbolt had finished work for the day, making the "irregular", several kilometre trip to the shops with his son to buy some milk.

"My son got a scooter and then I had to keep up of course - he likes to go to the shop with me. We used to walk together, but when he got a scooter I couldn't keep up with him - I'd be running and puffing along because they're quite fast.

"I had to get one as well to make sure he didn't cross the road at the wrong time and things like that," he says.

Newshub.