‘It’s a bunch of dudes over the age of, oh, 45’: Andrew Little and the mayoral social media game

Friday, 10 July 2026

Ask Wellington mayor Andrew Little if he remembers 2024’s Charli XCX “brat” moment and yes, he does recall the iridescent green-ness of it and its messages of empowerment.

For a brief time, while he was elbows deep in lawer-y stuff at his in-between Parliament and council jobs, brat was a global phenomenon that spawned a summer of mess; vomit green everything, political memes (Kamala IS brat) and TikTok dances.

Little as “brat”? Probs not. Then again it was Little getting down with the kids way back in 2012 when Psy was doing his gangnam style thing, famously aping the Korean dance craze during a debate on the Statute Amendment Bill in the days before the Christmas recess.

Riding the invisible horse didn’t do Little any favours at the time. There was a pile on from the opposition. Outside the House, detractors had a field day. There were insults, ridicule, mockery.

With the benefit of hindsight it was not, you suspect, the greatest of moments for the then Labour leader.

“It’s a bit late to regret [that],” Little says now. “It was current at the time…it is what it was.”

Politicians know only too well that social media can be both blessing and curse. Blessed for its ability to reach and inform many millions‒see Wellington footy player Tim Payne ‒the opposite for being the platform of choice for armchair moralists and public cruelty.

The latter was one of the reasons given for former Mayor Tory Whanau’s local government exit and subsequent move to Australia.

Little doesn’t know if he gets the same opprobrium. He doesn’t often look at the comments his posts receive, though the engagement they get is certainly monitored.

“I don’t look at them. I don’t want to know, otherwise you could get yourself into a real funk.”

As one commentator puts it, it is arguable that if you spend a bit of time on social media then you probably shouldn’t be in politics, and that if you’re in politics you probably should steer clear of social media.

Dude, it’s a bunch of us

Unlike his Auckland counterpart Little doesn’t have a Gen Z social media guru creating his content. Rather it’s him, plus his communications advisor and chief of staff running his socials, he says.

“It’s a bunch of dudes over the age of, oh, 45. It’s a team effort, we work out what we’re going to do, work on a script, record and edit it…I do the talent piece.” (The Wellington City Council’s own communications and social media teams usually have no role in the mayor’s social media. During states of emergency they might be consulted to ensure clarity and consistency across all platforms.)

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown’s crusty old bloke persona was deftly kicked to touch by the assistance of young gun comms advisor Connor Ayliffe, who creates and manages mayoral content across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and Reddit.

Brown appears to read the comments. A video released on Christmas Eve 2024 saw him kitted out in a Santa hat reading some of them, mostly abusive. He’s still obviously grumpy, and the responses are acidic, but it’s smart and entertaining.

More recently a Facebook post (on the anniversary of the January 2023 floods) plays like a doc fest short film with clips of Brown highlighting his council’s work on flood protection, interspersed with scenes of said flood and commentary from affected locals.

A “sports special” where he ran through a list of big events happening in the city over a March weekend was more reminiscent of an episode of the irreverent quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks with its chaotic music and flashing graphics.

Little is more, for want of a better term, “low-fi”. He is prolific, with his posts ranging from straightforward captioned photographs to video updates that might include overlays or other AR tricks and effects.

He can be, as the youth say, “cringe”. For instance his first post on Threads was a photo of him in the mayoral chains captioned “Have I threaded this properly?” and “Check out these new threads.”

Then there was the Instagram post that read “Don’t live in paradise/Wellington? Shame bro/sis (several emojis) our sky right now” with a photograph of a patch of blue sky.

A new citizenship ceremony, which Little said had him “jumping for joy” was accompanied by a photograph of him doing just that, while a video of him showcasing activities in the city, including a gig by Police drummer Stewart Copeland, saw the mayor “wearing” a red police siren as well as referencing their 1986 hit Don’t Stand So Close to Me.

Little takes credit for the dad jokes. “They’re all mine.” The others prefer a “kind of like your uncle having fun” tone.

But it’s not all jolly japes. Little can be direct and informative when needs must; the sludge levy budget dramas, Moa Point, the floods in April and the impending council reforms being cases in point.

While he has a regular weekend reel ‒ which highlights upcoming cultural and sporting events and often recaps key events of the week and is planned in advance, there’s no set structure to the social content.

However rather than being an ad hoc exercise the posting schedule is largely driven by key events and council decisions.

“When a big event happens, like the floods, you've got to be there. People are in shock and there’s trauma, and people want to know stuff, so you do want to keep up a bit of a frequency for a period. When there's nothing more to add then you stop. So we do constantly gage what is the right cadence and what's the right frequency.”

That monitoring is important. Too much on the socials and the audience can turn off. Similarly audiences dislike overly superficial content. #fake

Emma Connolly is a research fellow in the Department of Political Science at University College London. She has studied how social media content goes viral across various platforms, and believes public figures have a tough time of it these days.

“They can’t afford to ignore social media. But it’s also not a substitute for building real-world in-person connections. Increasingly it is a brand-building tool used to build a persona as much as engage.”

Little’s minders are quick to point out he’s also doing stuff IRL [in real life].

“The social media content complements the mayor’s communications through external media channels, and he remains committed to meeting media regularly, responding to daily media enquiries and monthly live radio interviews through three organisations [Newstalk with Nick Mills, Radio Active Breakfast, and Te Upoko O Te Ika].”

Oh, that’s awkward

Connolly says the mayor, as with anyone posting daily, should be wary of being too “try hard” online. In a not-so-subtle dig she suggests middle-aged blokes should stay away from the language of their kids and grandkids.

“Social media relationships are built on authenticity, so audiences are really very quick to pick up on content that doesn’t fit with the person. Appearing out of touch and embarrassingly awkward is an occupational hazard for public figures if they don’t get their social media set-up correct.”

She notes that while Kamala Harris received plenty of positive attention for her Brat campaign she also copped criticism for being cringe, while in the UK, Keir Starmer has been criticised for his overly corporate TikTok presence.

“It can be a tricky balance because audiences do want to see behind the scenes or a glimpse into the ‘real life’ of a public figure, and sometimes there is a tendency to jump on a trend or imitate others’ successful content, in the hope that they can follow suit. But, this doesn’t mean that politicians should be posting their GRWMs [get ready with me, a popular social media video trend] or whatever – they can consider authentic ways to make audiences feel as if they’re getting a glimpse at the person behind the brand.”

Barack Obama, former PM Jacinda Ardern, Nigel Farage “who has a successful TikTok presence in the UK” and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, were examples of figures who had struck the right balance, Connolly said.

The plethora of different platforms meant content had to be well targeted and the communication adapted to different audiences.

Says Connolly: “Each platform has a different purpose and a different target audience and that should drive the content that is posted. What works on Facebook or X (more informative) is different to what works on Instagram and what works on TikTok (more entertainment based).

“An increasingly important aspect of political communication is the ability to engage audiences rather than speak at them. Features such as live streams, Q&As, comment interaction, and collaborative content creation can help build a sense of accessibility and authenticity– so being active on platforms that facilitate this are important.”

Little’s weekend reel, which started partly “because there was a period of time when everyone was talking Wellington down, including Wellingtonians and we wanted to let them know hey, there's actually stuff going on here”, tended to be popular on Instagram and Facebook, while profiles of local businesses got more attention on LinkedIn. Threads remains a work in progress.

As to a winning formula, Connolly says there isn’t really one. Just don’t go full Trump.

“Polarising posts will for sure encourage debate among an already politically-engaged or partisan audience, but their impact on a more ambivalent or moderate audience is less significant.

“A combination of authenticity, consistency, and clear core messaging, plus content that works with the platform it’s posted on goes a long way.”

Post its

Vaughn Davis is creative director and owner at advertising and social media agency The Goat Farm. Here’s his take on the online lives of some local luminaries, including Wellington’s mayor.

Andrew Little: The mayor or his comms team use Facebook like a broadcast channel… so a lot of video set pieces on whatever issue he’s into at the time. As an Aucklander I’d say he doesn’t have quite the goofy dad humour approach Wayne Brown seems to specialise in, but that could well be a good thing. The content seems to be landing well anyway, with plenty of comments on each post. No replies from the mayor that I’ve seen, but if he or his team are reading the comments at least they’re getting some sort of dipstick on public opinion.

High points: Plenty of comments from residents.

Deputy mayor Ben McNulty: Ben comes from the IT world (disclosure: he worked for one of my agency’s clients before entering politics) so is very much at home online. While some of his stuff is pure issues-based broadcast, he treats social more as a barbecue conversation, so brings in just enough personal content to be what comms advisors like to call “relatable.” Overall, one of the better mixes of political and personal.

High points: Beer recommendations, band T shirts and actually engaging in the comments.

Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul: With 48,000 Facebook followers, Tamatha Paul must be doing something right. While a lot of what she posts is strictly business-focussed video content, she comes across as very natural, open and uncoached. I like her written posts too – the best ones feel like you’re reading someone’s diary… honest, authentic and on point. It doesn’t look like Tamatha engages much in the comments, but if everything I read about being a woman in politics is true then I don’t blame her.

High points: One of the few pollies who doesn’t look dumb holding a lapel mic up to her face.

Housing Minister and Hutt South MP Chris Bishop: As a government minister, Chris Bishop has to play a pretty straight bat online, but somehow a bit of personality manages to slip through. Setting aside the obligatory party speaking points and infographics, we see a guy who’s into cricket, is happy to give genuine support for his colleagues and isn’t afraid to jump into the comments section now and then.

Best bit: Posting a goofy pic of himself and asking for captions.

Lower Hutt city councillor Brady Dyer: Like Neo in The Matrix, photographer and councillor Brady Dyer leads a double life. Rather than combining personal and political content in one Facebook profile he has one for each, so you need to visit both to get a feel for the guy. Personal Brady is into family, Ed Sheeran, rocket launches and cake. Political Brady fronts a busy news feed focussed on local issues and events with a healthy dose of cheerleading for Wellington area attractions.

High point: Engages with the comments, including the occasional gentle clap back.

Upper Hutt Mayor Peri Zee: Like Brady Dyer, Mayor Peri Zee leads a double life, but her private page is locked down, making me wonder what dark and mysterious secrets it conceals. While the mayoral Facebook page’s content is pretty straight (making me wonder even more about the locked page) Mayor Zee’s comment thread game is a standout. She uses it in a genuinely conversational way, occasionally jumping into threads that often run to 100+ comments.

High point: Her reels (short videos) and especially the ones from before she was elected and got all mayoral.