Andrew Little says Wellington mayoralty ‘still a contest' after Tory Whanau's exit
'I've decided I'd like to step aside to give him a clear runway to win the mayoralty,' Whanau told the Herald in a sit-down interview.
Little told the Herald Whanau called him last week while he was at work to tell him the news.
'It was a bit of a surprise that she had made the decision to stand down given she had committed just recently to contesting the mayoralty again. But in the end, she's done what she's done, that's her decision,' Little said.
'I said to her 'thanks for letting me know' but that was really as far as it went.'
'I wished her all the best for what she chooses to do next', he said.
He said he wants to thank Whanau for her time as mayor on behalf of Wellingtonians.
'She's had some challenges, she's got some things done that she wanted to get done, she can be very pleased with it,' he said.
Whanau said she initially chose to run again because she 'was worried there were no viable candidates' before Little announced his campaign.
Despite this, Little said there is still a campaign to run and the election isn't a done deal.
'I take nothing for granted and there are people like Ray Chung, there's people like Graham Bloxham as well.
'I feel that I am the right person and I do have the right skills, but equally, I know that Ray intends to put up a fierce campaign so I will match that and the campaign will continue.
'There is still a contest to be had,' Little said.
Last night Wellington's local Labour Party branch officially supported Little's bid for the mayoralty.
He said he's 'very pleased' to have the party's support, saying there's no doubt he's 'fully aligned' with the party.
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'I've been a union leader, I've been the president of the party, I've been the leader of the party, I've been a minister, I've been an MP - no one is going to think that my values are anything other than fully aligned to Labour.'
City councillor and mayoral hopeful Ray Chung told the Herald he wasn't surprised by Whanau's announcement this morning, and suspected Whanau may quit the race after a discussion he had with her at the weekend's Anzac commemorations.
'I knew that something was going to happen, they were all thinking about what to do,' Chung said.
'I'm actually more buoyed now.'
'She would have found it very very difficult' to win the mayoralty against Little if she stayed in the race, he said.
Even with Whanau bowing out, he doesn't believe Little can win.
'I think I'm going to win, I think we're going to win, I think the Independent Together party is going to win.'
Independent Together, a campaign group headed by Chung, is running 11 candidates in the upcoming local body elections on a shared policy platform of cutting wasteful spending and not increasing rates for three years.
He claimed Whanau and Little have done a deal which would see her be appointed Little's deputy mayor if they were both elected.
A spokesperson for Little's campaign said that is not the case and no deals have been made.
Whanau told Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills that no deal has been done but said she would be keen to be deputy.
'I will say early on, 'hey, feel free to consider me' if he's elected next year that would be great, but the best outcome for the city is more important,' Whanau said.
The decision not to run again will make Whanau Wellington's third consecutive single term mayor alongside previous mayors Andy Foster and Justin Lester.
Former mayor Dame Kerry Prendergast told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that was 'bad news' for the city.
'Three one-term mayors is not good for Wellington, we need stability', Prendergast said.
'There has to be something done to turn our city back to the way it was, get our mojo back,' she said.
The local election will be held on October 11. The council's candidate nominations open on July 4 and close on August 1.
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
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