[2] At the 1947, 1950 and 1953 local-body elections he was stood unsuccessfully for the Wellington City Council on the Labour Party ticket.

O'Flynn's cross-examination of Muldoon generated a lot of interest, and was described in his Law Society obituary as a highlight of his career.

[6] Following his attempt in Nelson, O'Flynn seriously considered standing for Mayor of Wellington in 1977, but he withdrew in favour of Sir Frank Kitts.

[11] His defeat was in the wake of him hinting that he would rethink his position on the council should he become a cabinet minister after being promoted earlier in 1983.

[10] Following the controversial de-selection of Gerald O'Brien, O'Flynn was selected as his replacement in the Island Bay electorate.

[15] O'Flynn was a backer of David Lange for leader and was rewarded by being promoted to the front bench and given the role of Shadow Attorney-General.

"[19] He was instrumental in developing Labour's nuclear-free policies, which despite resulting in the breakdown of ANZUS, O'Flynn described as "by far the brightest thing [the Government] had done.

His bench mate Michael Bassett felt that O'Flynn's dislike of the defence portfolio was more an expression of his disappointment that Lange had broken his promise of giving him the position of Attorney-General.

[20] Not long after deciding to retire, he suffered a stroke (which he later recovered from) and was unable to deliver his valedictory speech in Parliament.