[1][2] Of Polish[2] and Jewish origin,[citation needed] Blumsky started work at Hannah's Footwear Company in 1976 aged 17.

In mid-1995 Blumsky sought the nomination of the centre-right Citizens' Association electoral ticket for the mayoralty, but lost out to Nigel Gould, the former chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board.

However, during his first term in office Blumsky controversially agreed to sell the council's stake in the company,[4] citing commercially sensitive information.

Financial problems at Mischief Shoes, subsequent to his entering politics, prompted questions from critics and the media about whether he was responsible.

A long-running saga was his good-humoured battle with well-known Courtenay Place busker 'Kenny', a cowboy hat-wearing country music singer whose amplifier was confiscated by the council after the volume annoyed other city apartment-dwellers.

During the shooting of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King he took an active role, and was persuaded to throw the severed heads over a set wall onto a group of Knights.

[7] From September 2002 to July 2004 Blumsky was founding director of Creative HQ, a business incubator for high-growth export-oriented start-ups.

From August 2004 to May 2005 he was director (sales and marketing) for Norsewear, an iconic New Zealand clothing company with a multimillion-dollar turnover.

In October 2004, Blumsky announced that he would seek the National Party candidacy for the Wellington Central electorate, and was nominated unopposed in November.