Andrew Little shores up political support in Wellington mayoral bid

Wednesday, 30 April 2025

The former Labour Party leader believes Wellington has lost its confidence and the city council 'doesn't seem to be offering the leadership that's needed'.

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Andrew Little appears to be the person to beat in Wellington’s mayoralty race, with powerful National, Green and – of course – Labour allies backing him.

The former Labour Party leader and cabinet minister was already seen as strong contender to win in October, but that was given a boost when incumbent Tory Whanau dropped the shock news on Tuesday that she would not be running.

Now senior Wellington National-linked figures are supporting Little. A prominent party affiliate, who spoke anonymously to The Post, said there was “near unanimous” support for the Labour candidate from the right and centre-right.

“Local body politics is not about left or right, it is about having a plan for the city and being able to bring people together to execute it,” the affiliate said.

Labour Wellington mayoral candidate Andrew Little, centre, is getting support from unlikely corners including from National-linked Chris Finlayson, left, and Nicola Young.

“He certainly has my vote,” said Chris Finlayson, a former National MP and government minister who worked with Little in Parliament and remains influential in the Capital.

“I rang him before he announced to say I would support him,” Wellington City councillor and born and bred Nat Nicola Young said.

She hoped for a strong run from the rest of the field – Ray Chung, Karl Tiefenbacher, Graham Bloxham, Rob Goulden and Kelvin Hastie – in the run-up to the October election.

“It shouldn’t be a coronation,” she said.

Wellington mayoral candidate Andrew Little isn’t taking any endorsements for granted.

Little this week secured the Labour nomination, but it was a rubber-stamp process as he was the only candidate. News of the cross-party support was appreciated, Little said on Tuesday.

“It’s not over till it’s over,” he said, pointing out he was yet to put out detailed policies.

Those talked to by The Post on Tuesday rated city councillor Chung – who came out of political anonymity in 2022 to give seasoned politicians Andy Foster and Paul Eagle a fright in the race for mayor – as the most-likely challenger.

A Curia poll earlier in the year, before Little announced, showed Chung had strong support.

Chung said since Whanau’s announcement there had been a “significant number of calls saying ‘we need to support you more than ever before’.”

“All the things [Little] is saying isn’t going to solve the problem of our downward spiral,” Chung said.

Councillor Diane Calvert has been touted as considering a run and she would not rule it out on Tuesday. She also wanted to see policies before backing another candidate.

Chris Finlayson, a former National MP and government minister who worked with Andrew Little in Parliament, is backing the Labour candidate.

“I think anyone at this stage needs to put Wellington first … its’an opportunity to take a positive approach to the next council.”

Whanau did not rule out Little getting an official Green endorsement. The party could still run another mayoral candidate but it was unlikely and, with some policy concessions about cycleways and the Golden Mile, the party could end up endorsing Little, she said.

“We need the best team to run the city, and that would include me and Andrew [on council],” she said. Little confirmed he would not seek a Green endorsement.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus said the organisation was non-partisan and never endorsed mayoral candidates.

One powerful endorsement Little isn’t going to get is that of former three-term Wellington mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast.

Asked on Tuesday if she was backing his campaign, the response was an unequivocal “no”.

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