Councillor Ray Chung during a Wellington City Council meeting. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Councillor Ray Chung during a Wellington City Council meeting. Photo / Mark Mitchell
THE FACTS
Ray Chung lost the Wellington mayoralty to Andrew Little in a landslide defeat, placing third overall.
His campaign suffered a major blow from a scandal involving a controversial sex and drugs email he sent about the mayor.
Despite the high-profile, big-spend campaign, he has only just made it onto the council with fewer votes than in 2022.
At the start of his campaign, first-term councillor Ray Chung was a front-runner to take over the capital’s mayoral chains.
Early polling had him on top by some margin; he’d secured high-profile support, and, campaigning to topple one of the least popular incumbent mayors in the country, asan underdog, his chances were looking good.
He was so confident, he’d even told me at an event he had a $90,000 Rolex pre-ordered from Partridges as a gift to himself for when he won.
But according to the results, Chung has lost the mayoralty to Andrew Little in a landslide, placing third not only in the mayoralty, but also in his Wharangi Onslow-Western seat, scraping in.
Many people who closely followed the Wellington City Council told me that Chung was not right for the mayoralty. That included some of his right-wing allies - none of whom, except Tony Randle, turned up to his campaign launch.
Some of his independent colleagues even confided that they feared the council would be replaced with commissioners if Chung were in charge.
National Party member Nicola Young publicly backed Little, and the centre-right Diane Calvert decided at the last minute to run herself.
Chung was incredibly engaged and effective in his ward.
He took the bus into council rather than drive just so he could talk locals’ ears off on the commute, he’d turn up to the opening of an envelope to be visible in the community, and there were endless posts on local community pages praising interactions where he’d quickly get results on local issues raised with him, like signage or street lights.
He worked so hard for his ward that he ran himself into the ground, ending up hospitalised mid-way through the term with what was initially thought to be a stroke. Even from his hospital bed he was working on council papers.
He had established the Onslow Residents Community Association in 2017 and held regular constituent meetings.
But Chung’s grassroots community concerns were not reflected in his mayoral campaign.
Ray Chung's mayoral campaign saw him go from a frontrunner to only just scraping into council. Rod Emmerson for 18/07/25
At his launch in early June, Chung appeared to be at the height of his popularity. He said at the time he’d received between $150,000 and $200,000 in donations through his campaign group, and hundreds of energised supporters concerned with steep rates increases packed out Public Trust Hall.
Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung at his campaign launch.
But that launch represented the issue with Chung’s campaign, it had been co-opted by political actors who appeared more interested in culture wars than the constituent issues that Chung had built his name on.
The guest speaker was Peter Williams, the high-profile former news anchor who often writes about his grievances with issues like the mainstream media, transgender issues, and co-governance. Those are hardly the matters that made Chung popular.
Williams and Chung both admitted they had never met before that night, and Williams started his speech by saying he’d never even been a Wellington city ratepayer. Chung’s campaign had strayed.
He linked up with former whaling lobbyist Glenn Inwood, and Alistair Boyce, the Backbencher pub owner and regular voice on The Platform, who ran his campaign under the Independent Together (IT) banner.
Boyce, the MC of the launch, introduced Chung as the “nemesis of the deep state”, a reference to the United States political conspiracy theory that argues a clandestine group of unelected powers are controlling the government.
To me, Chung’s bid for mayor was taken advantage of by those with an axe to grind about issues he likely didn’t even understand.
Graham Bloxham taking a selfie with former broadcaster Peter Williams at Ray Chung's campaign launch for the Wellington mayoralty.
He quickly found himself on the back foot. When Better Wellington’s campaigning was scrutinised by the media and Chung was called for comment, he rarely knew anything about the issue he was being asked about.
That may have had Chung on the ropes, but it was the man himself who delivered the knockout punch to his own mayoral campaign.
His now-infamous sex and drugs email was undoubtedly the scandal that ended his chances for the city’s chains.
A salacious rumour he’d supposedly heard from a neighbour while walking his dog was written up with unsavoury yet unsettlingly colourful language and spread to his council colleagues, and he refused to take responsibility.
A deflated Ray Chung reluctantly spoke to media after the news of his brutal loss. Photo / Ethan Manera
The release of the email by Tory Whanau was a perfect political hitjob. She had hinted on social media that she had “plenty of tea for the right time” as far back as April.
If Wellington voters did not know who Chung was before, they certainly did now. Not all publicity is good publicity.
In the 2022 local election, Chung, campaigning independently and having never had the platform of being a councillor, romped in with the highest number of votes in his ward,
But this time around, it appears Chung’s quagmire of a campaign raised so much attention that enough Wharangi Onslow-western ward voters rejected him on their ballot papers.
He has managed to make it on to council, but he received the least votes of those elected in his ward, despite the high-profile campaign and massive financial backing.
Wellington has rejected the type of politics he hitched his wagon to, but only Chung, and perhaps Partridges, should be surprised by his result.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
