Herlihy was first elected to Parliament in the
1996 election as MP for
Otago, and was re-elected in the
1999 election. In the
2002 election, he lost narrowly to
David Parker of the
Labour Party. This loss was surprising to many commentators, as the Otago region has traditionally regarded as a safely in National hands. Herlihy narrowly missed out on becoming a
list MP, being two places below the cut-off line. == After parliament ==