Wayne Brown has a small lead in the latest mayoral poll. Photo / Dean Purcell
Wayne Brown has a small lead in the latest mayoral poll. Photo / Dean Purcell
Businessman Wayne Brown has his nose out in front of Efeso Collins in the race for the Auckland mayoralty, according to a poll released tonight.
But more importantly, the latest Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll shows momentum is building for Brown, while support for Collins, endorsed by the Labour and Green parties, is stuck in the mid-20s.
This is way short of the 50 per cent support Labour-endorsed mayors Len Brown and Phil Goff secured in each of their two mayoral wins - and points to a mood for change after 12 years of Labour mayors ruling the Super City.
Another poll, leaked to the Herald, also shows momentum is building for Brown, although this poll has Collins on 27 per cent and Brown on 22 per cent.
The poll, from Talbot Mills, is a weekly rolling poll of 200 Aucklanders and has been conducted since April. In the week ending September 15, the sample size increased to 550 people. Talbot Mills polls for the Labour Party.
In the Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll, Brown has jumped eight points since the last poll nearly six weeks ago to 28 per cent, while Collins has risen by 4 points to 26 per cent.
Viv Beck, who pulled out of the race during the period of polling, was on 10 per cent, followed by Craig Lord on 8 per cent, New Conservative co-leader Ted Johnston on 4 per cent, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chairman Gary Brown on 3 per cent and 16 other candidates between 0 and 2 per cent.
This is the first poll since restaurateur Leo Molloy withdrew from the race last month when the previous Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll showed him falling back to third place.
Curia boss David Farrar said about half of the 1000 eligible Auckland voters had been surveyed by last Friday when Beck withdrew from the race. Her name remains on the postal ballot papers.
Labour Party endorsed mayoral candidate Efeso Collins has lost the lead in the latest poll. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
The poll found more women are undecided. Collins was 2 per cent ahead with women and Brown 4 per cent ahead with men. Collins leads with the under-40s, but is well behind with over-60s.
In a surprise, the poll found Brown has a big lead over Collins in West Auckland, previously a stronghold for Labour-endorsed mayors. Collins leads Brown in Auckland central, while Brown is ahead in the east, north and rural areas of the city.
Viv Beck pulled out of the mayoral race during the polling period. Photo / Greg Bowker
Collins today welcomed support from former Waitakere City Mayor and Labour Party president Sir Bob Harvey, who said: "Efeso brings to his campaign a real sense of unity, vision and a purpose for Auckland."
Harvey has also supported Brown by launching his campaign in March, saying he will give Auckland Council "a bloody good shake-up".
Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said Brown has broken the red firewall of West Auckland and is now the best option for voters fed up with the status quo.
However, he was concerned Brown had not signed the 2022 Ratepayer Protection Pledge to keep future rate rises below household inflation and rule out any new targeted rates over the next three years.
"But we are encouraged by Wayne Brown's plan to find $1 billion of savings and reduce the number of grossly overpaid bureaucrats.
Independent media operator Craig Lord is in third place in the latest poll. Photo / Greg Bowker
"If Brown can make good on these promises, and keep rates below inflation, he will be the greatest mayor Auckland has ever had, but must sign the pledge to give undecided voters security," Van Veen said.
The poll of 1000 eligible Auckland voters was conducted between September 11 and 18 and has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent. It found 44 per cent of voters were undecided, which is not surprising as only 35 per cent of Aucklanders voted at the 2019 local body elections.
