Wellington mayoral race: Can Tory Whanau’s replacement tackle the city’s issues? – The Front Page

Mayor Tory Whanau's exit from the Wellington mayoral race has opened it up for other contenders. Photo / Mark Mitchell

After a string of one-term mayors, Wellington City will have a fresh face by the end of the year.

Tory Whanau has pulled out of October’s mayoral race, pulling a 180 on her previous decision to run again. She has said in the past that she was keen to serve three terms and had got the Green Party endorsement for the mayoralty.

Her time in the top office was marred by personal incidents and infighting around the council table.

NZME Wellington reporter Ethan Manera told The Front Page that one of Whanau’s more positive achievements has been finally getting the Golden Mile project off the ground.

“The contract for the majority of the Courtney Place work of this transport project still hasn’t been signed. She wants to get that signed before the election.

“The only part that has been signed, the only contract for work, is for the intersection at the top of Courtney Place. If she gets the rest of it signed off before the election, gets spades in the ground, that will be a huge legacy,” he said.

The Golden Mile project broke ground this week, with the redevelopment of Courtenay Place officially starting on May 4.

Whanau’s decision to run instead for the Green Party in the city’s Māori ward comes soon after former Labour leader and minister Andrew Little threw his hat into the ring for the Wellington City mayoralty.

“Little and Ray Chung [a current Wellington City councillor] seem to be front runners. You’ve sort of got one on the left, one on the right. But, I would say we are still just under six months out, and things could still change,” Manera said.

“There’s nothing stopping another strong candidate from stepping in and shaking the race up again.”

Whoever takes on the city’s top job will need to deal with rising rates, declining house prices, and ongoing ferry issues.

The new mayor will also face the challenge of uniting those around the council table. The council has been so divided that last year the Government sent in a Crown Observer to oversee it.

“There will always be disagreements. But it‘s how those disagreements are handled and how they play out, making sure things don’t get ugly,” Manera said.

“Andrew Little is definitely selling himself as the sensible pair of hands. Someone who can get everyone together and take the politics out of it. It‘ll be interesting to see as the mayoral debates kick off later this year how people act when they’re up on the debate stage and whether things get fiesty or ugly.”

Polling released last month showed more support for the fiscally conservative Chung over Whanau. At the time, only Chung, Whanau, and conservationist Kelvin Hastie were confirmed as running for mayor.

Since then, Little has announced his bid, as have cafe owner Karl Tiefenbacher, former councillor Rob Goulden, and the owner of a controversial local Facebook page, Graham Bloxham.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Whanau’s legacy and what the future could look like for Wellington.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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