Wellington Region Mayoralty Contests
Starting in Wellington City , we have nine nominations, being:
- Ray Ahipene-Mercer
- Paul Bailey
- Carl Gifford
- Rob Goulden
- Nick Kelly
- John McGrath
- Bryan Pepperell
- Kerry Prendergast
- Helene Ritchie
- Jack Ruben
- Nick Wang
Kerry is obviously the favourite, but it is an STV election so she will have to pick up some support from the minor candidates as they fall over.
Around a third of the Council are standing for Mayor – not because they have a realistic chance of winning, but I suspect because they know their profile helps them with their Council seat election.
I tend to favour a rule that one chooses to stand for Mayor or Council. A Mayor shouldn’t have to put up with a Council full of people who stood and lost to them. No wonder you get so much infighting. It would also make candidates for Mayor seriously think about whether they want to stand or not.
McGrath is the only candidate not on Council who has a chance of getting a respectable result.
In Lower Hutt we have:
- Ross Jamieson
- Ken Laban
- David Ogden
- Rose Thomas
- Ray Wallace
Laban vs incumbent Ogden is probably the main show, but others could pick up quite a bit.
In Porirua Jenny Brash has four challengers:
- Jenny Brash
- Selwyn Katene
- Liz Kelly
- Robert Shaw
- Piripi Gray
Have not followed Porirua politics as much as I used to so not sure how secure Brash is.
And in Upper Hutt Wayne Guppy has no challengers. A happy man.