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The Auckland Mayoralty

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, June 8th, 2025 - 4 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, local body elections, local government, national - Tags:

The race to be Auckland’s mayor has become very interesting.

This week deputy mayor Desley Simpson announced that she would not be running for the mayoralty and said that she would support current Mayor Wayne Brown instead.

A clearer message that National will throw its weight behind Brown could not be imagined.

Simpson’s National pedigree is clear. She is elected to represent the Orakei ward. This is the wealthiest part of Auckland and includes Remuera, Mission Bay, St Heliers, Parnell and Glendowie. And she is the wife of former long term National Party President Peter Goodfelow.

Interestingly Simpson appears to have withdrawn from Community and Residents which has been synonymous with National for decades.

On April 8, 2025 she was listed as a C&R councillor. Shortly after she disappeared from the C&R website. This may or may not be related to a planned mayoral campaign or to C&R calling for expressions of interest for the Orakei Ward councillor position.

Clearly the right wing brains trust has decided that a Simpson candidacy would have thrown the mayoralty into considerable doubt. A three way contest between Brown and Simpson and Kerrin Leoni could have resulted in a very interesting campaign. Leoni is the only progressive who has announced her intention to stand. And if she succeeds she will create history by becoming the first Maori Wahine Super City Mayor.

But she does not have the financial power that Brown or Simpson would have. And in a campaign that is the equivalent to running in forty electorates all at once financial resources are really, really important.

I said earlier that from a progressive point of view it would be hard to chose between Brown and Simpson. The current Mayor has shown flexibility when presented with a show of unity by the progressive Councillors and is able to be reasoned with. And Simpson does have an understanding about how Auckland works and how Local Government works. From a progressive point of view she would be much preferrable to Bennett but in some respects not dissimiliar to Brown.

But they are both of the right and their starting points on issues will include fiscal conservatism and devolution of Council services to the private sector.

This shows how important the Councillor elections will be this year.

Votes over the past term have shown that when the progressive councillors unite they can determine Council decisions.

It is vital to get Alf Filipaina and Lotu Fuli reelected in Manukau, Richard Hills and Chris Darbey if he is standing in the North Shore, Shane Henderson in Waitakere and the Green’s Jessica Rose would be a welcome addition. City Vision’s Julie Fairey in Albert Eden and Labour’s Sarah Patterson-Hamlin in Whau need to be there. It then gets really interesting. Damian Light in Howick would be more centrist than previous representatives. Waitemata badly needs a progressive Councillor. And in Manurewa it would be great to get Love Manurewa’s Joseph Allen over the line. Please get to learn your local Council candidates and support progressives.

As for Kerrin’s campaign if you want to support it you can do so here.

It is a David verses Goliath battle. But with enough support and help she can do it.

Disclaimer – the writer is involved in her campaign, primarily because she has the right values and the right skills for the job and she would be an outstanding Mayor.

4 comments on “The Auckland Mayoralty ”

  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    9 June 2025 at 11:28 am

    It pays to look for the positive in any situation if you are a politically active person–but…when 60% of Aucklanders can’t be arsed voting in Local Govt. Elections (38% is viewed as a good turnout!) then kiss your arse goodbye time is looming for this election.

    Kerrin Leoni is a perfectly credible candidate except not enough dough to run a strong campaign, and no massive free media support like Brown will get from ZB. Mrs Goodfellow strategically withdrawing has locked in Mr Grumpy’s likely win.

    Reply
  2. Sanctuary 2
    9 June 2025 at 11:56 am

    Has anyone tried posting a letter lately? I live in Morningside, hardly the boondocks yet the number of even vaguely local places I can post a letter I can count on one hand and have change.

    Auckland council appears determined to conduct this local body election using the same postal voting that was so bad last time that it frankly seriously undermines the democratic legitimacy of the council and its decisions. Just 34% voted. Only one in four voters of Maori descent voted in 2022. Voter turnout was significantly skewed in favour of wealthy suburbs with older, white voters. Hardly surprising when enrolment to vote closes an absurd ten weeks before polling day (Friday 1 August 2025) and where postal voting papers are mailed out to enrolled voters.

    As it stands, the voting system is heavily rigged in favour of people who own their own home and live in wealthier suburbs, with the leisure time to find a place to then post the bloody voting forms back.

    Kerrin Leoni has got her work cut out in a city where a deeply misogynistic and racist local media will ignore her campaign and is complacent to an effectively rigged turnouts that suits a gerontocratic council makeup hostile to change.

    I expect this election the runout will drop below 30% – IMHO, anything less than a 50% turnout is a serious crisis of democracy. The time has long past for central government to impose some sort of turnout requirement on local elections. Personally, I would pass a law saying if you don't 50% turnout in Auckland then the council has to do it again, and if they still don't get a 50% turnout appoint a commissioner to organise a proper election.

    Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      9 June 2025 at 1:30 pm

      Good points Sanctuary. How many millennials or Zs have actually posted mail in their lives? The postal infrastructure has been run down for years now and transient renter numbers grow.

      So definitely stacked in favour of older conservative home owners. Digital voting needs to be tried despite the pundits trepidation before local democracy dies.

      Reply
      • Visubversa 2.1.1
        9 June 2025 at 4:58 pm

        I understand that the Council has drop boxes in places like the Libraries. Hopefully, they will be well advertised at Election time. My closest mailbox is Kingsland, but I usually post things in Mt Albert shopping centre as we are there a lot.

        Reply

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