Anderton for Christchurch Mayor?

The Press reports:

Political veteran Jim Anderton may yet run for the Christchurch mayoralty after earlier ruling it out.

Speculation is rife over who will be the Left-leaning 2021 group’s candidate to stand against Mayor Bob Parker.

Anderton yesterday refused to say if his name would be on the ballot.

“I can’t rule it out, and it is not ruled in either,” he said.

Despite being aged 72, Anderton would be a strong challenger to Bob Parker. If he won, I expect Megan Woods to stand for Labour in the by-election.

It would e very interesting for the City Councillors if Anderton did become Mayor. Anderton is well known as an autocrat who hates dissent, and believes decisions are best made by him, not by a Caucus. He even left his own party he founded because they refused to hand over supreme power to him.

So an Anderton-led Council could be a fairly unpleasant experience – not for the Opposition Councillors, but for his own team.