Labour on the hunt for a Wellington mayor … and a new contender from National?

Tuesday, 31 December 2024

Clockwise from top left: Fleur Fitzsimons, Jill Day, Justin Lester, Andrew Little, Teri O'Neill, Ben McNulty, Nureddin Abdurahman and Rebecca Matthews are mostly viable Wellington mayoral candidates but only one has confirmed a possible run for the job.

The Labour Party is canvassing widely for a candidate in the Wellington mayoralty race while a new potential centre-right candidate has emerged with a tacit swipe against those she would be up against.

“It is clear Wellington wants a strong candidate, one that will work across the city,” current city councillor Nicola Young said on Monday.

“We haven’t seen that person emerge yet.”

Wellington City councillor Nicola Young is hinting at a run for the Wellington mayoralty in 2024.

Incumbent mayor Tory Whanau and councillor Ray Chung have confirmed they are both running for the mayoralty in the local body elections next year. Councillor John Apanowicz is also considering standing.

Young is a four term Pukehīnau/Lambton ward councillor who has run as an independent but has strong and long-standing ties to the National Party, of which she is a member. Her father, Bill Young, was a long-serving National MP.

Incumbent Wellington mayor Tory Whanau: ‘It would take a thick-skinned person to put themselves forward.’

Young said her decision on running would happen as the year evolved and it was a case of “never say never”.

Meanwhile, the search for a strong and viable Labour candidate had been going on for months – so far without success. Multiple sources have confirmed that the Labour Party opened nominations before Christmas for candidates to run in Wellington ward seats and for the mayoralty.

Justin Lester was the last Labour Wellington mayor, between 2016 and 2019, after a stint as deputy mayor and city councillor. He said a lot of people had asked him about running again in 2025 and he was not ruling it out.

“I am very much enjoying my new life,” he said.

Councillor Ray Chung has confirmed he is running for mayor in 2025.

“Having said that, I do worry that the city is in a state of flux and that gives me great cause for concern.”

The Labour mayoralty ticket appears unlikely to be filled from the current council with incumbent Labour councillors not leaping for the job.

Nureddin Abdurahman said he was focused on being a strong local councillor and would likely run for a ward seat next year while Rebecca Matthews, who voted against Labour Party lines on council, was yet to confirm if she would run for council again at all.

Teri O’Neill and Ben McNulty – the other two Labour councillors – could not be reached for comment but are not understood to be considering a run for the top job on the Labour ticket.

It is understood senior Wellington Labour figures Fleur Fitzsimons and Jill Day have both been approached to run but declined. Fitzsimons is now the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi acting national secretary and Day, Wellington’s former deputy mayor, is the Labour Party president. Both are former Labour city councillors.

Former union leader and Labour leader, Wellingtonian Andrew Little confirmed he had been approached a few months back about trying out for the Wellington mayoralty and gave it serious consideration before ruling it out.

Whanau, a Green Party member who won in 2022 as an independent, had no insight over who Labour would find but was not surprised it was struggling.

“What it proves is how difficult the job is,” she said. “It would take a thick-skinned person to put themselves forward.”