Career
He was expelled from the New Zealand First caucus on 4 December 2012 and served the remainder of his term as an Independent. Horan is of Māori descent with affiliations to Ngāti Maniapoto. Horan was a weather presenter for Television New Zealand"s ONE News, running on a regular cycle with Karen Olsen and Natalie Crook.
He started in March 2005, and took redundancy in 2007 when former TV1 weather presenter Jim Hickey returned after nearly 4 years absence on the air.
His final weather presentation was on 7 September 2007. He came third in electorate votes but due to New Zealand First"s poor showing in party votes, was not elected from the party list.
At the 2011 general election Horan stood in Tauranga, narrowly coming third (by 96 votes) behind the Labour candidate. However, he was elected as a list Member of Parliament for New Zealand First, after being ranked sixth on their party list.
In October 2012 he helped saved the life of Indonesian Member of Parliament Atte Sugandi by giving him Code of Professional Responsibility when the Member of Parliament collapsed at a United Nations conference in Japan.
Expulsion from New Zealand First
In November 2012 Horan was accused of taking money from his dying mother"s bank account and spending it on gambling. At first Winston Peters refused to say whether he still had confidence in Horan, but on 4 December expelled him from the party. Horan wasn"t informed until Peters made the announcement in Parliament.
Horan flatly denied the allegations, and vowed to continue as an independent Member of Parliament, despite only making it into Parliament as a list Member of Parliament, without an electorate.
On 10 December 2012, Horan admitted making 144 calls to gambling agency Technical Assistance Board on his taxpayer-funded phone, but denied he had a gambling problem. He also called for an investigation into who leaked his phone records to the media.
New Zealand Independent Coalition
Horan stood in the Bay of Plenty electorate, coming fifth. Following his defeat, Horan returned to Wellington to clear out his office and work with his former colleagues to get jobs for his now unemployed staffers.
He is maintaining a low profile following the election.