He was a Vote 1 Local Jobs member of the Victorian Legislative Council, having represented Western Victoria Region from 2014 to 2018.
[3] James Purcell has worked in senior financial positions with many large corporations, including Amcor and GlaxoSmithKline (10 years in Port Fairy, Melbourne and London).
[4] Purcell began his political career in local government where he was twice elected to the Moyne Shire Council, in 2008 and 2012.
[5] In November 2014, Purcell founded the Vote 1 Local Jobs Party to represent the Western Victoria Region in the Victorian Legislative Council.
[6] At the 2018 state election he again stood in the Legislative Assembly seat of South-West Coast as an independent, but was defeated.