Fletcher vows to remedy poll failure

Christine Fletcher. Photo / Dean Purcell

Citizens & Ratepayers co-leader Christine Fletcher says a failure to connect with Aucklanders is the reason her group did poorly at the first Super City elections.

"I pledge to address this and will work to change this.

"I believe in the values that C&R represents. That we are not more on this council is not, I believe, a reflection of those values but rather our failure to connect with the people of this region in a meaningful way," Mrs Fletcher said in her maiden speech as an Auckland councillor.

The right-leaning ticket had high hopes at last month's local body elections for 10 or 11 seats on the Auckland Council, but had to be content with five.

Yesterday, C&R president John Slater put a positive spin on the overall result, saying the ticket won a quarter of the seats on the Auckland Council, 31 local board seats and control of five of the 21 local boards.

Mr Slater said the ticket was disappointed with the results for the Auckland Council but took some solace from making progress on the goal of turning C&R from an Auckland City-based to a regionwide organisation.

The Herald understands there is disquiet within C&R about the campaign, particularly at how resources were funnelled into some wards and not others.

One C&R source said this proved costly in the Albert-Eden-Roskill ward, where Paul Goldsmith was pipped for the second ward seat, and in Maungakiekie-Tamaki, where hopes were high for Alfred Ngaro to beat Labour's Richard Northey.

Mr Slater, who has run the last two election campaigns, has not ruled out staying on as president of C&R, despite its constitution saying the president must stand down after two elections.

He said "some considerable views" were being expressed to review the charter now that C&R was a regionwide organisation.

Mr Slater said it would not be appropriate for him to lead a change in the constitution.

Mrs Fletcher has pledged to work with Mayor Len Brown, despite being "heartbroken" about John Banks not winning the mayoralty and C&R's track record of partisan politics.

"We have a huge responsibility to shake ourselves free of political bias and use every opportunity to shape a consensus based on fact that will take us forward," she said.

"We will work constructively, issue by issue. We will not, however, tolerate rates increases for our citizens."