The National Party has allowed controversial restaurateur and Auckland mayoral hopeful Leo Molloy to address a party event attended by deputy leader Nicola Willis and other MPs.
The party has a longstanding policy of not endorsing candidates at local government elections, but this didn't stop about 100 members sitting downfor lunch with Molloy at Markovina Vineyard Estate in west Auckland on May 28.
Molloy was an invited guest of Mark Markovina, a family owner of the vineyard and events venue.
Among the speakers were Willis, Whangaparāoa MP Mark Mitchell, East Coast Bays MP Erica Stanford and Molloy. Former National deputy leader Paula Bennett was also present.
National Party MP Mark Mitchell knows Leo Molloy well but is not endorsing him. Photo / Dean Purcell
Molloy's presence at the event comes when he is battling Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck, who is going through a process to be endorsed by National's de facto local government arm in Auckland, Communities and Residents.
It also coincides with questions being raised in National circles about Beck's performance since she launched a bid for the mayoralty three months ago.
An advertising campaign to raise Beck's profile has been delayed, she has still to launch a website and the last post on her Facebook page was on April 16.
Party activists are concerned about the crowded field standing against Efeso Collins, the only serious candidate on the left, who has been endorsed by the Labour and Green parties.
Other candidates are businessman Wayne Brown, freelance media operator Craig Lord, lawyer Ted Johnston, Hibiscus and Bays Local Board chairman Gary Brown, animal rights campaigner Michael Morris and John Lehmann.
Erica Stanford, National Party MP for East Coast Bays, was at the event. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Mitchell, who toyed last year with standing for the mayoralty, said it's a crowded field at the moment on the right.
"But the National Party has taken a position for a long time that they don't support or endorse any one candidate," he said.
Mitchell knows Molloy well, but said he is not going to support any candidate because the minute any National MP endorses a candidate will be seen as National Party endorsement.
Another National MP from Auckland, who did not want to be named, said: "I'm of the view we should be sitting down and working out who should go all the way. It's not helpful to have three candidates (Molloy/Beck/Brown), but ultimately we don't get involved."
"We need a change in Auckland and ultimately that is really, really important," said the MP.
Since the Super City was established in 2010, Labour's Len Brown and Phil Goff have comfortably won all four mayoral contests.
A spokesman for Molloy said he will not discuss private meetings.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck. Photo / Brett Phibbs
"Leo is running as an independent and meeting with different political groups," the spokesman said.
Beck told the Herald she was not invited to the National Party event in west Auckland, but had a number of warm meetings with National MPs.
As for a quiet start to her campaign, Beck said she had continued working and be in full campaign mode once she finished up this week.
The centre-right candidate said her advertising campaign had been delayed and had a new person on board - Mike Hutcheson, who worked on campaigns for Goff and Len Brown.
She is also keen to get the endorsement of C&R, a process that has dragged on for several weeks and is likely to lead to access to confidential National Party data.
Auckland mayoral candidate Wayne Brown. Photo / Dean Purcell
"It's clear sometime before the election things need to shake down ... there's a lot of candidates at the moment and I think it will be helpful if there are fewer as we get closer to the election," Beck said.
Brown, who is self-funding his campaign to the tune of $500,000, is running as an independent candidate with no links to National or Labour.
"You will be a weak mayor if you are tied to one of the parties. We need to have Aucklanders running Auckland," he said.
