By 3 News online staff
It could be the biggest political comeback story of 2015.
Aaron Gilmore, the disgraced former National list MP, has re-joined the political world after being elected onto the party's Christchurch East electorate committee on Monday.
Mr Gilmore, then the lowest-ranked National MP in Parliament, resigned in 2013 following a reported exchange with a waiter at a Hanmer Springs restaurant in which he called him a "dickhead" and infamously asked "Don't you know who I am?" when his table was refused alcohol – something he denied.
He also dismissed a claim he namedropped the Prime Minister, instead saying he pulled out his business card telling the waiter: "I am a Member of Parliament."
Later on, an email was released to show Mr Gilmore lost his job at a Government ministry because of bullying behaviour.
Mr Gilmore is reportedly keen to run for the Christchurch East seat in 2017 but denied the claim today.
Via text message this morning, he claimed to have "no interest in running for public office at this time".
"There were around 25 people at the meeting and I didn't put myself forward. People nominated me out of the blue and there were no votes against," he wrote.
"I gave no indication of wanting to run."
Mr Gilmore was replaced on the list by Claudette Hauiti, who also resigned following improper use of her Parliamentary charge card to pay for a flight to Australia.
3 News
source: newshub archive
