Fired up about election

Chris Whiteside. Photo / Supplied

A reject from the reality TV show The Apprentice has announced plans to run as a Supercity councillor in Auckland.

Chris Whiteside heard the dreaded words "You're fired" after being accused by boss Terry Serepisos of lying, being a weak leader and sabotaging his team.

But the Christchurch-raised 28-year-old accountant is confident he can convince Aucklanders to vote for him.

"Being young, I believe I can be an advocate and represent younger people in the Auckland region. I don't think there is any Generation Y there at the moment.

"The current councillors and the potential candidates are mulit-millionaire businessmen."

Whiteside has lived in Auckland but admitted there were a few holes in his knowledge of local body politics.

Asked who the next mayor was likely to be, he suggested John Banks or Dick Hubbard. Hubbard lost the 2007 mayoralty to Banks and stepped out of local politics.

Whiteside was surprised to hear Len Brown was Banks' main rival, and said he had "a lot of reading up to do".

His only previous political experience was student politics at Canterbury University.

If he doesn't get elected, he joked that he hopes to appear in The Bachelor.