[1] Borrows joined the New Zealand Police and worked in Nelson, Wellington and Auckland before becoming the sole charge officer in Patea.

[2] As a police constable, he received a Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct in 1978, for services in attempting to arrest an armed murderer.

[7] He first stood for Parliament in the 1999 election, in the Whanganui electorate, but he could not unseat the incumbent, Jill Pettis of the Labour Party.

He publicly disagreed with Corrections Minister Judith Collins about her decision to stand down a gang member from his mentor work in prison.

[18] Borrows broke ranks with his party in 2017 to openly condemn what he called the "discriminatory" policies of US President Donald Trump, and reiterated his support for Syrian and Muslim refugees.

Borrows proposed an amendment which would have legalised the use of force on children providing that it did not "cause or contribute materially to harm that is more than transitory and trifling", involve any weapon, tool or other implement, and was not "cruel, degrading, or terrifying".

[26] According to Borrows, he convinced then Justice Minister Simon Power in 2008 to "take DNA off everybody arrested in the same way we can take fingerprints and photographs without having to go off and get a warrant."

[22] In June 2022, Borrows criticised the National Party's proposal to ban gang patches, saying that it was "ineffectual" and was designed to attract "big headlines."

He also cited the failure of previous anti-gang patch legislation which he had introduced into Parliament as a National cabinet minister and MP.

[28] In November 2022, Borrows criticised National Party leader Christopher Luxon's proposal to introduce electronic monitoring and boot camps for young offenders, arguing that better "social supports" were better solutions to addressing youth crime.

Regarding youth crime, Borrows stated "I hope that we get past cliches and billboards and actually talk about the actions we need to take in a very precise manner, and how we can ensure that kids don't go down this track.

"[32] Borrows wrote an opinion piece in 2018 following controversial comments about homosexuals by Australian rugby player Israel Folau.

"[33] After visiting Parihaka in 2018, Borrows argued that there needed to be wider teaching and acknowledgment of New Zealand history, especially regarding historical injustices committed against Māori.

In 2019, Borrows had his driving licence suspended for three months, as he had earned 100 demerit points from four speeding tickets over two years.

[38] In February 2023, Borrows' daughter posted on Facebook that he had head and neck squamous-cell cancer and that his condition had worsened.