Competition for the top job in our biggest cities is heating up ahead of this year’s local body elections, with some potential candidates already causing a stir.
Personal issues like a drinking problem have been a distraction from her mayoralty and she has championed controversial policies which have ultimately failed, such as the Reading Cinema deal and selling the council’s stake in the airport.
Newstalk ZB Wellington reporter Ethan Manera told the Herald’s On the Tiles: Local Edition podcast that Whanau had always said she wanted three terms as mayor.
“She knows things take a long time to happen in local government. She knows the things she wants to do like revitalising Courtenay Place and investing in water take a long time to happen.
“If she wants to see the benefits of those things, she’ll have to be around for a while for them to bear fruit.”
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Whanau wants to run on the Green Party ticket, unlike last time when she was an independent candidate endorsed by the Greens, Manera said.
“She’s the only one in the Green Party’s mayoral pool which gives the party’s local branch three options. She could either be endorsed if they choose to pick her up as a candidate, or they could not endorse a candidate at all and leave it, or they could vote to reopen nominations and look for another candidate.”
Whanau has previously admitted she had upset her base by championing policies like asset sales and has since worked on “rebuilding relationships”.
Other confirmed mayoral candidates include city councillor Ray Chung, predator-free champion Kelvin Hastie, Wellington Live owner Graham Bloxham, and former city councillor Rob Goulden.
“On top of that, Wayne Brown has adopted a kind of ‘I’m an outsider and I want to fix all the nonsense, they’re not listening to the people of Auckland, they’re not listening to me and I want to get that all fixed' approach.
“This is exactly the approach he had before he’d been mayor so although he has now been the mayor, he’s still adopting that sort of approach.”
“It seems reasonable to assume that she is looking at it very seriously and that as a ranking member of the National Party with good connections she will be talking long and hard with them about what kind of organisational support they might give her through the Communities and Residents group as their front in Auckland,” Wilson said.
The longer it took for Simpson to announce her intentions, it would appear more likely she would stand, Wilson said.
South Auckland lawyer Ted Johnston and Labour Party-affiliated councillor Kerrin Leoni have also confirmed they are running for the mayoralty.
If Simpson did put her hat in the ring, it would be a real two-horse race, Wilson said.
Newstalk ZB Christchurch reporter Blake Benny said his achievements include progressing water infrastructure projects, upgrading the organics processing plant, settling an $85 million insurance claim after a fire at the Bromley wastewater treatment plant and confirming a solution to the stench that has plagued much of the east of the city.
“Mauger did make some mistakes along the way. Likely one of his biggest errors during his term was having to backtrack on election promises around rates increases within Christchurch.
“Pre-election he had promised to cap increases to 3% a year and has since acknowledged he didn’t do what he pledged as that would mean a change to the level of service that the council provides which he says he was previously unaware of.”
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger. Photo / George Heard
Like Whanau and Brown, he is keen to progress projects and policies already in the works including a new stadium and a state-of-the-art sports centre, Benny said.
Christchurch City councillor Sara Templeton has also confirmed her candidacy.
“What’s really got people in the Garden City talking is her intention to really throw all her time and resource at a mayoralty campaign and as such (she) isn’t running for a fourth term in her Heathcote seat come October,” Benny said.
“So it’s really an all-or-nothing approach from Templeton.”
Listen to the full episode of the On the Tiles podcast for more from Newstalk ZB journalists Ethan Manera and Blake Benny and New Zealand Herald senior writer Simon Wilson about how the mayoral races are taking shape.
On the Tiles is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are available on Fridays.
The podcast is hosted by Georgina Campbell, a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
