Andrew Little keen to serve ‘at least’ two terms as Wellington mayor

Andrew Little and Ray Chung are competing to become the new mayor of Wellington.

• Tory Whanau‘s U-turn decision to quit the mayoral race makes her Wellington’s third consecutive mayor to only serve one term.
• Former mayor Kerry Prendergast said Wellington’s succession of one-term mayors is “bad news” for the city.
• Local government scholar Dr Andy Asquith believes it’s because of the political culture of Wellington City Council and leadership failures.
• Mayoral candidate Andrew Little agrees the city needs continuity and plans to campaign on providing it.

Andrew Little has committed to stand for ‘two terms at least" if elected Wellington mayor to bring some stability to the city - but one of his opponents says such an assumption is “extremely arrogant”.

Wellington has struggled to hold on to leaders with a succession of one-term mayors over the past decade.

When Tory Whanau first stood, she made it clear she wanted to serve three terms in the top job.

This week, that pledge was broken, with her announcement she was quitting the mayoral race to make way for Andrew Little and instead turn her focus to the council’s Māori ward seat.

It makes Whanau the third consecutive single-term mayor, following Justin Lester and Andy Foster. She’s the only one to pull out of the race rather than face defeat.

A local government scholar says Wellington's trend of 'chopping and changing' mayors is bad for the city. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Former Wellington Mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast raised the issue with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking earlier this week, saying the trend isn’t serving the city.

“The bad news is three one-term mayors is not good for Wellington, we need stability”, the former three-termer said.

Despite a city plagued with enduring challenges and a perceived lack of long-term vision (polling shows a majority believe things are heading in the wrong direction), voters have chosen to throw out incumbent mayors offering continuity.

This time around they won’t have that option.

Mayoral hopeful Andrew Little is campaigning on being a safe pair of hands to manage the city’s well documented struggles and told the Herald he doesn’t want to be another one-term mayor.

Little said if elected in October he’s committed to standing for “a second term at least”.

“I wouldn’t do the job, in terms of what I understand it needs at the moment which is stability and certainty, if I wasn’t committed to doing it for more than a term”, Little said in an interview.

Wellington mayoral candidate Andrew Little at Wellington's Island Bay. Photo / Supplied

He said three years is actually not a long period of time for a mayor, and his priority is to champion plans and policies that are “longer in vision than just a single term”.

Little said there is a perception in Wellington of a lack of continuity over the past nine years.

“There’s a sense that each new mayor comes in with a different set of priorities,” he said.

Current councillor and fellow mayoral candidate Ray Chung has taken a different approach, saying it is “extremely arrogant” for candidates to pledge to run for more than one term.

“It’s not up to me to say I will serve for more than one term. Every mayor’s future lies in the hands of the voting public. I would expect to be judged on my performance,” Chung said.

Councillor Ray Chung won't commit to more than one term in the mayoralty. Photo / Mark Mitchell

After Whanau dropped out of the race there was a suggestion a deal had been done that would see her appointed Little’s deputy should both be elected.

Both candidates have put this to bed saying no deal has been done.

But when asked about the claims, Whanau did make a point to say she’d be keen for the role.

“I will say early on, hey feel free to consider me if he’s elected next year, that would be great.”

Little has since poured cold water on Whanau’s hopes for the deputy position, telling the Herald he’s not interested in providing leadership continuity at the council in that form.

“I don’t see Tory Whanau, even if she is re-elected as a councillor, being a deputy mayor.

“She’s had her time as mayor”, Little said.

What’s behind Wellington’s high turnover of mayors?

Other comparable New Zealand centres haven’t faced the same level of mayoral turnover as the capital. Upper Hutt for example has only had two mayors since 1977.

Local government scholar Dr Andy Asquith from University of Technology Sydney believes it is an issue for the city.

He blames Wellington City Council’s “political culture”, being the city at the heart of Government, as well as the two most recent mayors “unable to provide leadership in the council chamber”.

University of Technology Sydney's local government scholar Dr Andy Asquith believes it’s an issue for the city, caused by a lack of leadership and Wellington's political culture. Photo / Supplied

“They have one vote on the council table and their job is to pull the council together and to build a coalition behind their agenda and certainly Andy Foster was unable to do so, and the current mayor is unable to do so," Asquith said.

He said Wellington is different from the rest of the country in its “chopping and changing” of mayors.

“For all his many faults, Wayne Brown, I think he’s done a half decent job in Auckland.

“He was a divisive character when he was first elected [...] but he seems to have pulled his head in and got down to the task of pulling people together.”

Asquith believes Little could be the solution, following years of poor leadership and instability.

“He’s the sensible grow up that Wellington desperately needs in the council chamber”, he said.

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Manera is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.