Rob Oakeshott has his sights set on a return to federal politics, in a seat considered one of the Coalition's safest.

It comes six years after he announced his retirement from politics.

Mr Oakeshott retired following a tumultuous term when he, as the then member for Lyne, and Tony Windsor helped Julia Gillard form government when the 2010 election delivered a hung parliament.

He received a backlash at the time for taking 17 minutes to announce his support for Labor, which some constituents had not expected due to his background as a former National Party MP.

This will be Mr Oakeshott's second tilt at winning the seat of Cowper.

In 2016, he ran what he described as a "crazy three-week campaign", which saw him gain 45.4 per cent of the two-party preferred vote and inflicted an 8.1 per cent swing away from National Party MP Luke Hartsuyker.

"We're running a broader campaign this time. It's a marathon not a sprint," Mr Oakeshott said.

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"The lessons of [losing an election] and the reflections [after my retirement] in 2013 are very much around me personally — that I like helping people, that I like to get things done."

When Luke Hartsuyker announced in August he intended to retire at the 2019 election, after holding the seat since 2001, speculation followed that Mr Oakeshott would make another attempt at Cowper.

But Mr Oakeshott said he felt obliged to take the time to come to the decision to run.

"Politically, I think it's the shared frustration of many people in the community about the disfunction that we're all seeing," he said.

"Whether that's in Sydney with rail and road multi-billion-dollar blowouts compared to not getting roadworks done [in Cowper], whether it's a lot of the dysfunction coming out of Canberra with changes in Prime Minister, all the sort of side stuff we see in the lives of Members of Parliament and the policy frustration and uncertainty."

Wentworth proved it could be done

Mr Oakeshott said the recent success of Independent Kerryn Phelps in the Wentworth by-election showed him he had a chance at a return to Federal Parliament.

"What Wentworth did was to show a lot of people in a really traditional heartland liberal seat that it's okay to go a different way and embrace change and you can get an experienced person to represent you and you can get as many if not more results by doing so."

Mr Oakeshott believed there was a mood for change across the nation, and within his local region, where he believed his experience in politics would count when it came to his opposition.

From the major parties, Port Macquarie solicitor Patrick Conaghan has been preselected to by the Nationals for Cowper, Bellingen-based advocate for climate change action Andrew Woodward is the Labor candidate, and Coffs Harbour city councillor, Sally Townley, will contest the seat for the Greens.

Rob Oakeshott speaks at a community meeting in NSW. ( Supplied: oakeshott.com.au )

Independents expected to feature more strongly

The plight of the independent politician is no easy task, but it is one plenty are taking on, with slim chances of success.

Rob Oakeshott campaigning in July 2016 in Toormina, NSW. ( ABC: Helen Merkell )

At the 2016 federal election there were 108 independent candidates contesting lower house seats; of those, 84 polled less than 4 per cent of the vote, seven polled more than 10 per cent, four polled more than 20 per cent, and only two were elected.

Adjunct fellow at Swinburne University, Peter Brent, said independents were capitalising on growing dissatisfaction with the major political parties.

"The primary vote for both major parties is down in the opinion polls and it seems to continue to go down at election after election," Dr Brent said.

"At some point we are going to see more independents erupt into the House of Representatives, and I suppose it's already been happening at the last election and the recent by-election."

Dr Brent said the trend was being seen around the world, particularly since the Global Financial Crisis.

"I suppose the simple answer is that people no longer see the [major parties] as having the answers, they no longer trust them and, since the Global Financial Crisis of a decade ago, the poor economy is forcing people to look elsewhere."

Profile is the key to Independent success

ABC election analyst Antony Green said for an Independent to win a seat, they needed a minimum of 25–33 per cent of the vote to ensure they finished second.

Then they needed to gain the majority of preferences from minor parties and the second-placed major party.

Green believed Rob Oakeshott had one significant advantage over most Independents who would be contesting the 2019 election — people know who he is.

"For Oakeshott that may be a double-edged sword," he said.

"Many voters will have a positive view of his time representing Port Macquarie in both state and federal parliaments. In a conservative seat like Cowper, others will mark him down for having backed the Gillard Labor government."

Green said being well known before an election was the most important prerequisite for an Independent to be successful.

"Independents need a higher profile than candidates of a party, whose low profile can be compensated for by voter knowledge of their party," he said.

"Electors will vote for an Independent they know, but won't vote for an Independent they don't."