Xero chief Victoria Crone considers standing for Auckland mayor

Xero managing director and potential Auckland mayoral candidate Victoria Crone. Photo / Brendon O'Hagan

The New Zealand head of listed tech company Xero has confirmed she is considering running for mayor of Auckland.

Victoria Crone, New Zealand managing director of Xero, has released a statement about her power play.

"I have been approached about it by a wide range of people and am currently having a think about it," Crone said this morning.

She is a highly accomplished business leader who runs the local arm of the accounting software business. She spent nearly two decades at Telecom and Chorus before joining Xero last year.

However, she is not a household name and strongly indicated she was only considering the position.

"Nothing else to say beyond that at this stage," she told the Herald.

Sue Wood, former National Party president and one of the forces behind a new centre-right push for power on Auckland Council at next year's election, said this morning that she liked the idea of Crone standing as mayor.

Wood, who is involved in the new Auckland Future group, indicated she liked the experience and expertise of Crone.

"I think it's an exciting development, a fresh new face," she said, adding that she also liked the fact that Crone was a woman.

However she refused to be drawn on mayor Len Brown and his performance.
Wood said Auckland Future would soon have a website. The domain name was likely to be www.aucklandfuture.co.nz she said.

However the group is yet to announce who it will stand as candidates and Wood said it was more focused on getting the right people rather than a mayoral candidate.

Auckland Future has been reported as having been established with backing from senior National Party figures, including another president, Michelle Boag, along with Auckland ministers Nikki Kaye and Paul Goldsmith.

"There's no mayoral candidate. Our focus is on quality candidates across Auckland," Wood said.