Cheryl Kernot is taking another tilt in politics and standing as an independent senator for New South Wales.

A statement released by Ms Kernot today says she plans to run under the banner "Change politics" on a joint ticket with former Manly councillor Simon Cant.

Ms Kernot was leader of the Democrats from 1993 to 1997 before she famously defected to Labor to contest the 1998 election.

She served as the MP for Dickson in Brisbane from 1998 and was a frontbencher until the Liberal Party's Peter Dutton ousted her in 2001.

In a statement Ms Kernot says she decided to make another run for politics after being encouraged to do so by members of the public.

"I share their expressed despair at the quality and expense of our current election campaign with its narrow, superficial focus and avoidance of the complex and challenging issues facing us as a nation and a global citizen," she said.

"This is such an important election and we are much more than a nation defined by a worm's judgement.

"I've learned a great deal from my previous parliamentary experiences, and I believe I still have something constructive to contribute to Australian political life. Instead of just commenting, I am willing to 'have a go' in this last phase of my working life."

Ms Kernot said she only decided to run in this election last Tuesday and has now taken leave without pay from her job as director of social business at the Centre for Social Impact at the University of New South Wales.

But the group only decided to actually contest the election last Tuesday evening.

She says she has not been a member of a political party for "some time".

After Ms Kernot left politics journalist Laurie Oakes sensationally revealed that she and senior Labor minister Gareth Evans had been having an affair while she was still in the Democrats.

Mr Oakes defended his decision to reveal the affair because Professor Evans was one of the people lobbying her to move to Labor.

Ms Kernot took over from John Coulter as Democrats leader in 1993 and was seen as a popular leader with the public.

After she left the Democrats Meg Lees took her place but the party started to disintegrate after it split over the GST.

The last of the Democrats senators left the Senate in 2008.