Council candidate ditches under-fire Independent Together group

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Former Independent Together council candidate Lily Brown, left, and Wellington mayoral candidate Ray Chung.

A Wellington council candidate once aligned with mayoral candidate Ray Chung has split from the Independent Together group, saying she doesn’t support the “tactics or political approach” of its financial backer, Better Wellington.

Lily Brown announced on Wednesday she was ditching Independent Together (IT) to instead run as a “truly independent” candidate for the Onslow-Western ward in October’s local body elections.

“I believe in the values of transparency, respect, and genuine community engagement,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I no longer feel aligned with the tactics or political approach employed by Better Wellington, and I cannot, in good conscience, continue my association with Better Wellington.”

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It is a further blow for IT and Better Wellington, which have endured a torrid run of negative headlines since Brown herself admitted sharing misleading information about mayoral candidate Andrew Little at public meeting, before the revelation of a dossier commissioned by people linked to the campaign attacking Labour candidates.

A horror week peaked with an early-2023 email from Chung to council colleagues, which contained lewd allegations about mayor Tory Whanau, being released to media and Chung claiming he was the victim of a “dirty politics” campaign.

Then, on Tuesday, Chung’s final Zero Rates Increase roadshow was shut down by hecklers. Brown did not attend the meeting.

In the statement, Brown said she continued to support several of the individual candidates running under the IT banner.

“I’m standing to get things done ‒ not play politics.”

Better Wellington spokesman Alistair Boyce told The Post he had not seen the statement, but would look to respond either on Thursday or Friday.

“We wish Lily well in her future endeavours and thank her for her valuable support of her former Independent Together colleagues and our campaign.”

He would not be drawn when asked if other IT candidates had raised concerns about the campaign strategy.

“At this point I can say that all remaining Independent Together candidates are galvanised as a cohesive force to ‘take our city back’.”