Auckland mayoral race: 21-year-old to run

Saturday, 17 August 2019

Jannaha Henry, 21 is the youngest of 20 candidates contesting the Auckland mayoralty.

A 21-year-old is seeking the biggest directly-elected role in New Zealand politics, the Auckland mayoralty.

Jannaha Henry is part of a nationwide grouping of younger candidates hoping to bring a new generation of voices into local democracy.

'If we get one person voting, we win,' Henry told Stuff.

Henry is one of 21 candidates appealing to the one million voters who elect Auckland's mayor, a role currently held by Phil Goff.

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She has yet to publicly release policy or campaign intentions but in an earlier interview with Stuff on the movement to encourage more, younger candidates, Henry said she hoped to encourage more younger first-time voters.

Henry said it was not about challenging the established older generation of politicians.

'It's not about saying we know what's going on, that we're over this voice because you guys have been here for years and have been doing the same thing, it's not that at all,' she said.

'We're trying to include them as well - let us join the table and let us have the conversation with you and work these things out together,' Henry told Stuff.

John Tamihere has so far run the biggest campaign to challenge Auckland mayor Phil Goff.

Henry has a degree in Applied Management, and completed a six-month scholarship in Poland as part of her studies.

'I'm not standing by myself here, I've got my iwi standing with me, my friends, family, community people from Hamilton, Auckland, and I can already feel that communal conversation going on.'

They hope to build on the campaigning by younger people this year on climate change, and create awareness among some of those traditionally least likely to vote, the young, maori and polynesian.

Henry said others, including Green MP Chloe Swarbrick, who ran third in the Auckland mayoral race in 2016 as a 22-year-old, had helped lay the path.

The 21 candidate line-up is the largest yet for the fourth mayoral contest since Auckland's local bodies merged into one regionwide council in 2010.

Franklin ward councillor Bill Cashmore is unopposed for the second election in a row, after a challenge from John Palino failed to materialise.

Goff, and challengers John Tamihere and Craig Lord have so far been the most active campaigners.

In addition 54 people are chasing the 20 council seats, and 342 seeking local board positions.

The main surprises in the release of provisional nominations which closed midday on Friday, are that two council seats are uncontested.

The deputy mayor Bill Cashmore is unopposed for the second time in the southern-most Franklin ward.

Prospective mayoral candidate John Palino withdrew from the top race on Monday, and said he would challenge Cashmore in Franklin, but has not nominated.

The other no-contest is in the northern-most Rodney ward, where sitting councillor Greg Sayers has drawn no challengers.

The state of nominations is still subject to further checking with the confirmed list to be released on August 21.

Postal voting opens in late September, and closes on October 12.