Former Wellington mayors positive after Andrew Little announces bid for the job
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Former Labour Party leader Andrew Little has announced he will be contesting the Wellington mayoralty at local elections later this year.
Former Wellington Mayor Dame Fran Wilde said she was ‘delighted’ by Little’s announcement, and former mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast described Little as ‘intelligent and with immense integrity’.
Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman was unimpressed, posting that Labour was ‘going after the only Green mayor and wāhine Māori?’.
Two former Wellington mayors have expressed optimism after former Labour leader Andrew Little’s announcement that he will be standing for the job at the 2025 local elections being held in September and October
Dame Fran Wilde, who was mayor from 1992-95 after being the Labour MP for Central Wellington from 1981 to 1992, said she was “delighted” Little had announced his candidacy.
“I think his experience and judgement will be very helpful for Wellington City Council at present,” Wilde said.
She didn’t want to comment on the issues facing the capital, simply saying the council needed “some really strong leadership”.
Dame Kerry Prendergast, mayor from 2001-2010, could not be reached by telephone on Wednesday morning, but in a brief text message described Little as “intelligent and with immense integrity”.
“My impression is of an experienced governor who will be able to work with the government of the day in Wellington’s best interests, if elected,” Prendergast said.
Both Prendergast and Wilde were founding members of the Vision for Wellington group, although Wilde has since announced she will be contesting the South Wairarapa mayoralty and has pulled back from the Vision organisation.
Another member of Vision for Wellington is Mike Egan, owner of the Monsoon Poon restaurant and Wellington and national president of the Restaurant Association.
Little’s candidacy was “exactly” what Vision for Wellington was trying to achieve - “enthuse great quality candidates to stand, either for mayor or council”, Egan said.
“He is an experienced, practical politician from what I can see, who can work across different interest groups.”
Egan hoped Little’s announcement would encourage some like-minded people to stand for the council, saying “a mayor can’t run a city on their own”.
‘Going after a Green wāhine Māori mayor’
Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who resigned as an MP at the start of 2024 after shoplifting allegations emerged, criticised Little’s decision.
“So Labour are leaving the Super City to a rightwing puppet mayor but they’re going after the only Green mayor and wāhine Māori?” Ghahraman posted on Instagram.
“What’s going on guys, did you learn nothing from that election you just lost?”
Current Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he was “100% behind” Little’s bid to become Wellington’s mayor.
Little could bring people together, and end some of the “factionalism” at the council, Hipkins said.
Little: Wellington a ‘city in trouble’
Confirming he was running for mayor of Wellington, Little said the the city was “in trouble”.
”Living in Wellington is becoming unaffordable for working families. Cuts to public services are hurting the city and in a time of crisis our council too often seems like it’s out of touch with the people it’s supposed to serve.“
The city needed urgent change and better leadership, Little said.
“I’m standing for mayor because Wellington needs urgent change and serious leadership. I believe I have the experience and the steel to end the chaos at council and return it to what it should be doing, servicing the needs of all who live here.
Wellington is the place I chose with my wife Leigh to raise our family and there’s nowhere else we would rather be, he said.
Last week The Post reported Little was considering running for the mayoralty, after rejecting an earlier approach by Labour.