He lost in a ballot among fellow councillors to Teri Puketapu of the United Citizens ticket (which held the majority on the council).

[9] As opposition spokesperson on broadcasting he aroused the ire of the Left (chiefly Jim Anderton and Fran Wilde) by saying that there should also be a private channel, and was accused of "political incorrectness".

[11][12] In May 1990 Terris submitted a private members bill to force a binding referendum on the electoral system.

Terris represented the Western Hutt electorate until 1990, when he was defeated by National's Joy McLauchlan, one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of the Fourth Labour Government.

After losing his seat in Parliament he shifted to Wanganui to fill the post of vicar at St Peter's Anglican parish.

[17] An ordained Anglican priest, Terris spent his early working life in radio and television.

His latest book, released in July 2014 and called September Showdown[20] is a light-hearted look at the perils of a parliamentary career.

He has an interest in heritage issues and regularly contributes to the Radio New Zealand programme Sounds Historical.

Terris has also produced a series of six video documentaries on local subjects called Village to City, as well as a series of six interviews with local Hutt people who lived through World War II, both of which he has donated to the Hutt City Libraries.