Former Labour leader Andrew Little has announced he’s running for Wellington mayor.
He joins current mayor Tory Whanau, councillor Ray Chung, Rob Goulden, Kelvin Hastie, Karl Tiefenbacher and Graham Bloxham in putting their names forward.
In a post to social media, Little said the capital needs “serious leadership”.
Little retired from politics after Labour’s loss at the 2023 election.
He was party leader between 2014 and 2017 and a senior minister in government before the last election.
He would stand in the Wellington City Council election later this year.
In a video, he said Wellington needs urgent change and he’s got the experience to get things done.
The former Labour leader told Breakfast he backed himself to sort out the issues in the capital. (Source: Breakfast)
Speaking to Breakfast, Little said there were some “really serious challenges for Wellington at the moment”.
“I’ve been watching that emerge. I’ve been approached by literally dozens of people just in the last sort of two or three weeks about putting myself forward and in the end I thought look, I do have this set of skills. I think the challenges are there and it’s a challenge I would like to rise to.”
He said there was a “real sense of loss of confidence in the city” due to public service cuts and people leaving the capital.
“I think we need a leadership that is respectful of that, but also, you know, thinking about what the future looks like attracting your new business here, and new work here. And I just don’t see that in the current leadership.”
Little said the current council had not been performing, and cited his political background as a way to engage with government.
“I know government, I know ministers. I know the current ministers. I can build a constructive relationship. And then when I need to, I can stand up to government.”
