Former Child Protection Minister and Member for Adelaide Rachel Sanderson told InDaily she decided last Tuesday to nominate for the position.

Sanderson lost the seat she had held for 12 years after the electorate recorded a 7.1 per cent swing to Labor in March.

Her nomination comes as current Prospect Mayor and former Local Government Association president David O’Loughlin says he will not recontest at November’s local government elections, citing family illness.

O’Loughlin has served as Prospect Mayor since 2006 and is a former state and national Local Government Association president who ran against Sanderson as Labor’s candidate for the seat of Adelaide in 2014.

He said he was stepping down as Mayor due to family illness.

Prospect Mayor David O’Loughlin. Photo: James Ross/AAP

“We just need to get rid of as much stress as we can for the next few months and hopefully it all works out OK,” he told InDaily.

“It’s been an enormous privilege to serve the people of our city and the state and the nation and to give it up is a big decision.

“But, there’s plenty of good people out there.”

O’Loughlin has endorsed Prospect Deputy Mayor Matt Larwood’s mayoral campaign, describing his delegate as a “completely independent” and a “deeply committed local”.

He said he wanted to support a candidate who “lives in the area, chose to buy a house in the area, chose to raise their family in the area and wants to live in our city”.

Larwood, a software company CEO and former glassblower at the Jam Factory who has served as a Prospect councillor for eight years, said he was advocating for reasonable rates, responsible spending on roads, footpaths and building maintenance, and protecting heritage and parks.

“I love what’s happened over the last eight to 12 years in the City of Prospect – I remember it back in the day when it was a bit of a one-horse town,” he said.

“We’re entering into a period where we have to be as careful as ever with the way we raise our rates and spend our ratepayers’ money.

“I think an experienced person who has lived and breathed Prospect from a resident, from a parent, from a child, from a ratepayer, from an elected member, from a deputy mayor’s perspective is very well positioned to know how to guide our city for the next four years.”

Sanderson told InDaily there was “a mood for change in Prospect” and residents had approached her to run for mayor before O’Loughlin decided to step down.

She said she currently lived “on the border of Prospect”, but had a connection to the area dating back to 1983.

“I’ve had five months since the election to contemplate life and do all the things that I haven’t had time to do and just really consider where my skills would be best utilised for my community,” she said.

“Prospect is where I grew up, I worked, started business, rented, owned a home and started my political career.”

Among her election promises, Sanderson said she wanted to lower rates, increase the tree canopy and trial a fourth glass bin recycling program.

She said as mayor she would draw on her experience presiding over the government’s child protection budget and participating in budget estimates.

“I presided over a budget of over $650 million and the council budget is about $33 million, so I think that I’ll be able to manage that quite well,” she said.

“I think as far as getting Prospect financially on track and finding any efficiencies or any way that we can work with other councils to not duplicate and share resources, I’m very good at doing that kind of thing.”

Local government nominations close on Tuesday. Ballot material will be sent to voters between October 14 and 20, ahead of voting closing on November 10 at 5pm.