In 2006, shortly after incumbent Garry Moore made clear his intention to step down, Giles announced she would stand for the Mayoralty of Christchurch in the 2007 elections, the first candidate to do so. She leads the Christchurch City Vision team of candidates and is in favour of rate capping to inflation, more efficient disposal of rubbish, a wider use of CCTV cameras to cut crime in the central city, and keeping Christchurch clean.
Giles is well known in Canterbury as a former presenter on regional channel CTV. She hosted two programmes, Shopping with Jo, and In Depth, a one on one interview show. She also hosted Go Shopping on Channel 51 in the Hawkes Bay. She is now a real estate agent with Bayleys, based in Merivale.