Auckland businessman Leo Molloy to run for mayor in 2022 local election

Auckland businessman Leo Molloy plans to run for mayor in the 2022 local election. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland businessman Leo Molloy plans to run for the city's mayor in the next election - saying he is tired of the central city's traffic congestion issues and promised to create a "vibrant town" if elected.

Molloy's intention to run for mayor was announced via a post on the HeadQuarters bar Facebook page - deeming him a "coruscating contender" that wanted to get Auckland "moving again" and was against "woke pretentious white whingeing wankers".

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The HeadQuarters bar owner told the Herald he had long been cynical about Auckland Council's ability to "deliver anything significant at the micro-level".

"Things like consents, interpretation of the RMA [Resource Management Act], having to deal with Panuku [Panuku Development Auckland] which most often is difficult."

The controversial hospitality figure said the "final straw that broke the camel's back" was dealing with Auckland Transport and the way they were redeveloping "the waterfront streets with a particular focus on their provision for cyclists and one-way traffic".

And he said he couldn't wait to get into the electoral debates, "preferably in front of cameras".

"I'll tear anybody who they put up against me from limb to limb. I've got an appetite for it, I'm enthusiastic and passionate about it. I can't wait to get into the arena and take the gloves off and let's get started."

The restaurateur was convicted, fined and ordered to complete community work earlier in the year for flouting a High Court suppression order and naming Grace Millane's murderer online - a conviction he is now appealing against.

The conviction would not be an impediment to his mayoral plans, he said.

Molloy and his bar HeadQuarters have made headlines in the past – including for a since deleted Facebook post in May 2020 on the bar's page that was perceived as homophobic and claimed the Prime Minister had told "lies and half truths" about the spread of Covid-19 at hospitality venues.

Among the claims, the post asserted a man who spread the virus in South Korea attended a number of "gay dungeon bars".

Molloy apologised for using the words "gay dungeon bars" and vehemently denied he or the bar were homophobic.

In the Facebook post announcing Molloy's intention to run for mayor, the bar said it was:

• Pro business.

• Pro "user pays" infrastructural investments.

• Pro making the city "party friendly".

• Pro "rainbow".

• Pro "activating" the waterfront.

• Pro RMA reform.

• Pro immigration.

• Pro growth for the peripheral city.

• Pro a "bloody good" clean-out at Council.

• Pro expediting the consents process.

• Pro housing growth.

• Pro creating great environments for kids & families, eg. salt water swimming pools around the harbour.

• Pro getting a decent "downtown" sports & events stadium.

• Pro supporting the homeless, the vulnerable, and the needy.

• Pro Covid vaccination, and precluding those not vaxxed from flying in or out of Auckland.

On the other hand, the post said they were against "using inner-city hotels for quarantine" and "woke pretentious white whingeing wankers who're self-victimisers immersed in cancel culture".

Molloy said he was looking for a running mate and keen to hear from anyone interested in "some sort of joint, collaborative type platform".