Kerrin Leoni knows the odds are stacked, but believes Auckland wants an alternative

Tuesday, 30 September 2025

She has no party backing and faces a popular incumbent, but mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni tells David Long she’s the fresh choice Auckland needs. Wayne Brown will have his say on Wednesday.

Kerrin Leoni is under no illusions that the odds are stacked against her in the Auckland mayoral race as she faces challenges on multiple fronts, but she remains convinced she can give the city’s 1.8 million inhabitants a different option.

An incumbent mayor has never lost an election since the super city was formed in 2010, and Leoni has had an uphill battle trying to get the same media attention as Wayne Brown, partly because she’s not opening flyovers or going on City Rail Link test rides with Christopher Luxon.

Although she’s a Labour councillor for the Whau ward, which gives her some profile and makes her the only realistic challenger to Brown, she hasn’t been endorsed by Labour, the Green Party or the left-leaning City Vision.

She has been able to raise the money to mount a serious campaign, as the billboard hoardings and newspaper adverts would attest to.

But she’s also had to try to get a groundswell of support behind her, going to mayoral meetings across the city, some of which have been attended by less than a dozen people.

“The first hurdle was actually letting people know that there's someone else standing and we've done our best to get 150 billboards up across the city,” Leoni said.

She has brought people in to help with campaigning on TikTok, to engage with younger voters, and knows she needs to energise potential voters in west and south Auckland. Leoni has also tried to attend as many other community meetings across the city as possible.

“Wayne Brown made a lot of promises that he'd be out right across Auckland after he was elected, and no one has seen him for three years, and that's what people are not happy about. That's what I'm doing. I'm going out to all of the temples,” she said.

“I'm getting out into the community, holding community meetings, getting to the debates, and that's what we will be doing right up until October 11.”

Campaign themes and political positioning

Leoni is campaigning on issues like housing affordability, keeping rates down, dealing with homelessness, cutting waste and increasing the use of public transport.

Traditionally, she is more left-leaning than Brown, who regards himself as a centrist. But, over the past few weeks of campaigning, Leoni does appear to have made moves to capture the middle ground.

She attended one of David Seymour’s meetings against Auckland Council’s intensification plans and raised similar concerns that right-leaning councillors like Christine Fletcher and Maurice Williamson had voiced.

She has since made it clear that going to a Seymour meeting doesn’t mean she’s looking for an endorsement from the ACT Party, but it did raise eyebrows.

Nuanced stance on intensification

However, last week she wasn’t one of the five councillors who voted against the plans for 15-storey apartment buildings near train stations.

“My progressive beliefs around intensification in Auckland are clear that I do support it, but we have to make sure we're responsible in that decision-making, to have those amenities there,” she said.

“If I receive all of that information, to say we've got enough schools to cover all of that, then I would be happy.

“In Avondale, there's going to be another building going up of 700 apartments, and I know that the school's already full in that area.

“So is it responsible of us to continue with intensification in those areas when we know the schools are already full?”

In October last year, Leoni seconded a motion to consolidate speedway at Waikaraka Park. But she has recently changed her stance and joined those campaigning for speedway’s return to Western Springs Stadium. Once again, aligning with mostly right-leaning councillors and candidates.

So is Leoni saying anything that will help get her votes, and is she moving away from traditionally Labour voters?

She argues that running as an independent meant appealing to all Aucklanders, not just a particular bloc.

“When you stand as an independent, it is about making sure that you're listening to the voices of every single Aucklander and making your decisions based on that,” she said.

She pointed to her record on progressive issues, highlighting her support for Māori wards. “People are saying Wayne is the more progressive candidate out of both of us, but he didn't vote for Māori wards, he sold our airport shares,” she said. “Those are a lot bigger issues when you think about progressive policies for our city.”

On Western Springs Speedway, Leoni insisted her support was not about aligning with right-leaning politicians but about fairness in the process.

“Just because the other people that are being endorsed by Speedway are not progressive, that does not mean that I'm specifically supporting them,” she said.

Endorsements and support base

Wellington Labour Local Body Committee has endorsed Andrew Little to be mayor in the capital, but Leoni hasn’t received anything similar.

She’s received support from MP Willie Jackson, prominent Labour councillor Alf Filipaina, as well as former National MP Tau Henare, and recently, former Labour Party leader Phil Goff endorsed her.

“He was the previous mayor of the city, still has a lot of profile and has a lot of strong relationships with community leaders across Auckland,” Leoni said.

“Even when Efeso Collins ran [in 2022], he was fully endorsed by the party, but we know that there were some people in the Labour Party who still voted for Wayne Brown, because he's got relationships within the party that stem from 40 years ago.

“It's up to everyone's individual choice. If they believe they want his form of leadership for the next three years, then they should vote for him.

“But I'm bringing in a new perspective to Auckland Council. I'm still wanting to make sure that we address issues around cutting costs, but also actually have a heart for the city and get out to Aucklanders and show that the role has to have integrity brought back to it.”

Postal voting closes on October 11. A full list of candidates can be found here.