Wellington City Council nemesis claims he is vying to be mayor

Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Graham Bloxham, the owner of social media page Wellington Live and a nemesis of the current Wellington City Council, says he is making a run to be the mayor of the city.

Bloxham, who has been kicked out of council meetings for his past behaviour, also on Wednesday claimed to have sold the Wellington Live Facebook page, though public records show he remains listed as the sole director and shareholder of Wellington ‒ Live Ltd.

In a text-messaged statement, Bloxham issued a list of promises if he was to be mayor, including reducing rates and associated rents “for young ones significantly” and fighting to retain the annual Homegrown festival which recently confirmed it was leaving Wellington.

He promised to “give cars the priority they deserve” , to cut “wasteful” costs, reduce council staff numbers by 800, keep the council’s airport shares and to bring in an expert to write the council’s long-term plan . He also promised to start the conversation about amalgamating some Wellington councils.

“I will personally walk to the tunnel and start digging the thing to move past these awful ‘stagnated’ consultants ‒ slowing everything down,” he said. The National-led central Government promised before the election to have spades in the ground for a second Mount Victoria tunnel this term but it is a promise that is now looking unlikely.

Bloxham also said he would stand in the Paekawakawa/Southern ward as a councillor.

Bloxham has been a harsh critic of the current Wellington City Council, notably mayor Tory Whanau. He has also been a harsh critic of mainstream media including The Post.

To get the job he will have to beat two other existing confirmed candidates already on the council ‒ Whanau and councillor Ray Chung. A number of others have already signalled their intentions to run.

Nominations for candidates open on July 4 with voting papers going out on September 9 and voting closing on October 11.