THIS election has proved just how much people like a humble candidate.

You’ve most likely heard the name Nick Xenophon and wondered where did he come from, why is he so important, and why does he have a whole party named after him?

Mr Xenophon is an independent Senator in South Australia and the leader of the Nick Xenophon Team and he claims to just want to tackle Australia’s issues.

He doesn’t want to get caught in the politics of whether he’s left or right wing. He’s just interested in governing.

He’s been successful at this election with his party winning at least one seat in the House of Representatives and two in the South Australian Senate.

And while he’s a self-confessed bad driver, people are starting to take him and his party quite seriously.

WHO IS HE?

He has been in the Australian Senate for nine years and won a record vote of 24.9 per cent in South Australia at the 2013 Federal Election.

That was almost double the statewide vote he received in 2007.

He had an interest in politics since he was young and was a member of the Young Liberals while he was studying law at the University of Adelaide and was dubbed “the one that got away” from the Liberal party.

And as you’d expect with any politician, his life has not been without scandal.

He was the editor for the university newspaper, On Dit, but it was revealed he only came to be in that position after a student vote was rigged by other Young Liberals.

The Australian reported Mr Xenophon didn’t shy away from the scandal and even published a confession in the newspaper in 1978, 18 months after he was elected the editor.

“When it came to the crunch I realised machine politics wasn’t for me,” he told The Australian.

Mr Xenophon said he didn’t want any part in the rigged vote and thought other Young Liberals let it go but they didn’t.

“My election was a farce,” he wrote in the newspaper.

“With hindsight, I suppose I should have resigned then ... I should have had the guts then to publicly disclose.”

Mr Xenophon went on to work as a lawyer in South Australia, mainly dealing with workers compensation and personal injury claims.

He also taught law at the University of Adelaide and happened to teach Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne.

Mr Xenophon doesn’t like talking about himself and does not push the fact he’s a great listener and won’t give up, something you hear Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten doing regularly.

“I'm just true to myself. People know I’ll try to be fair. I get it wrong from time to time but I try to be fair,” he told news.com.au.

WHAT DOES HE STAND FOR?

When he started out in 1997, his main focus was anti-gambling.

When pokies were introduced to South Australia in 1993, he noticed a rise in problem gambling and stood for the Legislative Council in the South Australian parliament to fight against it.

He never expected to be successful, and was the first independent candidate elected into the Legislative Council in six decades.

Since then, he’s become an advocate for many other major issues in Australia like education, foreign policy and health.

He also became an advocate for victims of hit-runs and helped launch the Kapunda Road Royal Commission and harsher laws for hit-run offences were put in place.

In 2007 Mr Xenophon announced he had plans to move on from state government to federal politics and was elected despite Liberal Senator Nick Minchin urging people not to vote for him.

Since being elected to the Senate, he has said the Church of Scientology was a criminal organisation and used parliamentary privilege in 2011 to accuse a Catholic priest from South Australia of rape.

The Advertiser reported Catholic priest Monsinger Ian Dempsey was accused of raping John Hepworth, now a leading Anglican churchman, more than 40 years ago.

Mr Xenophon did not register the Nick Xenophon Team party until 2013 and is now aiming to get more support for failed South Australian mining company, Arrium.

WHERE IS HE CURRENTLY AT?

According to the ABC, a recount has begun in the electorate of Grey in South Australia, where the Nick Xenophon Team and the coalition are fighting for the seat.

Obviously every seat counts for the coalition at the moment as it hopes to yank leadership further away from Labor.

The ABC reports the Australian Electoral Commission started recounting votes on Sunday.

On Monday morning, Nick Xenophon Team candidate Andrea Broadfoot was ahead of the Liberal’s Rowan Ramsey. It looks as though the party has already won one seat in the House of Representatives, with Rebekha Sharkie being elected in the seat of Mayo in Adelaide Hills.

If Ms Broadfoot also secures a seat in the House of Representatives, that would be a great win for the Nick Xenophon team.

The party is also expected to win two seats, but could secure three, in the South Australian Senate.

Now that the Nick Xenophon team has a seat in the House of Representatives, it will be interesting to see whether the party will make a deal with either Labor or Liberal.

The party that gains Nick Xenophon Team’s support will have more of a chance of leading the government.

Before the election, Mr Xenophon appeared on Lateline and was asked who he would support if there was a hung parliament and he said it depended on a whole range of issues.

“In the event that that occurred, then it would be a matter of sitting down with the major parties and going through a whole series of policies and ensuring that Australians would have stable government,” he said.

Since the hung parliament was announced, Mr Xenophon has expressed interest in doing a deal with either Liberal or Labor.

The Advertiser reports Mr Xenophon would give his support in exchange for more help with Arrium.

“We will support the side that can form a stable government and that can listen to us in respect of key concerns which we think reflect the concerns of middle Australia,” he said.