An abusive email was sent to an Upper Hutt mayoral candidate. The sender says he has nothing to do with the incumbent mayor’s campaign. But locals and other mayors suspect otherwise.
On Monday, September 1, The Spinoff was cc’ed on a peculiar email sent by Graham Bloxham, the controversial owner of the Wellington – Live media company, to Peri Zee, a mayoral candidate in Upper Hutt attempting to unseat eight-term incumbent Wayne Guppy. The email was long and included statements like:
I understood you were a reactive “victim type person”. That to me is a shit stirrer, whisperer and dirty under handed player.
“in my opinion” you’re in experienced shows out, flip flopping on issues, and have a “weird woke – agressive style”, and to be frank the people that are driving you and your narritive will fuck Upper Hutt.
Please DO NOT continue to wind me, or people around me up. Failing this or a ramp up of your bullshit will see a wind up at my end too.
Bloxham’s outburst appeared to be in response to a growing rumour that he was involved in Wayne Guppy’s re-election campaign, and specifically that he was running Guppy’s social media. Bloxham told Zee: “I hold you ‘Personally’ responsible” for the rumour.
Peri Zee, taking in one of her favourite Upper Hutt locations: Mangaroa Farm. (Photo: Lyric Waiwiri-Smith)
When asked by The Spinoff, Guppy and Bloxham both firmly denied having anything to do with each other. Guppy replied via email: “He is not my campaign staffer or running my campaign or facebook and no payment.” Bloxham, over text, said, “I am not involved in anyone’s campaign… do not write lies as you are prone to doing.”
But where did this rumour come from – and why would it even matter if they were working together?
The story seems to begin on August 24, with a poll in the popular local Facebook group, “Upper Hutt Community page”. It was far from scientific, but with nearly 1,400 responses, not insignificant. The poll found a sizeable lead for Peri Zee, on 55% compared to Guppy on 15%.
The very next day, Guppy’s social media presence kicked into gear. After posting only twice all year, the “Mayor Wayne Guppy” Facebook page posted 22 times between August 25 and September 3.
These posts didn’t seem to be in Guppy’s usual style. They bore all the hallmarks of Bloxham’s Wellington – Live pages: poor spelling and grammar, event schedules and sports results for higher engagement, low-resolution images from the internet, screenshots instead of photos, and excessive use of hashtags. One of the posts was shared by Wellington – Live to three community groups within 18 minutes.
Some posts took direct aim at Zee, including the hashtag “#nowisnotthetimetoexPERImentwithanovice”, and a comment which read “now is not the time to do a trial with inexperience leadershio [sic]”.
Commenters quickly noticed the change: “Guppy officially has Graham Bloxham on board. Someone with such terrible judge of character should not be mayor,” one person claimed. “If you want a demonstration of how out of touch Guppy is, letting Bloxham anywhere near your campaign is it,” wrote another.
Bloxham’s voice can be heard behind the camera in two videos posted by the Mayor Wayne Guppy page, one has him filming from the passenger seat as Guppy drives his car through the town, and another has him interviewing a man at Brewtown about why he supports Guppy. The videos appear on Guppy’s page and weren’t posted by any Wellington – Live pages.
One of the videos Bloxham recorded that were posted on the Mayor Wayne Guppy Facebook page
The Post reported that Guppy’s page briefly posted, then deleted, a graphic about fugitive Marokopa father Tom Phillips, which later appeared on the Wellington – Live page too.
Guppy and Bloxham have a previous business relationship. Guppy’s return of electoral expenses from the 2022 election included three payments to “Wgton in your Pocket”: $3,013 for “social media” and two payments of $2,242 and $4,140 for “advertising”. In Your Pocket Media Ltd is a registered company owned 100% by Graham Bloxham.
To explain why these Upper Huttians were so upset by the idea that Guppy might be working with Bloxham, we need to go back to 2021, when Bloxham bought Wellington – Live, a popular local Facebook page founded in 2015 by 17-year-old Lilia Alexander. Almost immediately, followers noticed a deterioration of quality (for a more detailed explanation, see Janhavi Gosavi’s story: What happened to Wellington – Live?)
A response to a critic from Wellington – Live (from Janhavi Gosavi’s 2023 report)
More recently, Bloxham’s sign-written Wellington – Live car became a meme for racking up countless parking tickets. In May, he was arrested and charged with failing to stop for police. In July, the Employment Relations Authority ordered him to pay $28,000 to a former In Your Pocket Media employee for lost wages and humiliation.
Bloxham has a history of making aggressive – and arguably defamatory – comments about local politicians, businesspeople, and journalists on his media platforms and over email.
In April 2024, Wellington City Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow sent an email to all staff warning them about his behaviour: “We have been experiencing an increase in inappropriate/aggressive/threatening communication from Graham Bloxham… We have had advice that this behaviour is also being experienced elsewhere in the city and region. My advice is to not engage with Mr Bloxham if he does communicate with you in this way.”
Former Wellington mayor Justin Lester told The Spinoff he had sought a Harmful Digital Communication Order against Bloxham for private and public communications which referred to him as a “molester” and accused him of corruption and professional dishonesty.
Tory Whanau said she had faced abuse from Graham Bloxham. (Photo: Lyric Waiwiri-Smith)
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said she sought legal advice after Bloxham made repeated defamatory comments about her online, including accusing her of using illegal drugs and performing sex acts in public. “I reiterate that these rumours are completely untrue, incredibly offensive and defamatory,” she said. “Anyone who has helped spread these rumours should be ashamed of themselves and should reflect on their own behaviour.” If Bloxham was involved with Guppy’s campaign, Whanau said she would “recommend he rethink hiring Mr Bloxham. I’d encourage Mr Bloxham to seek professional help before he causes more harm to himself and to others.”
Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said he’d dealt with similar abuse from Bloxham in the past: “Any candidate who uses the services of a bully boy bozo shows a clear lack of judgment. I was on the receiving end of Graham’s threats during the 2022 campaign. It’s the type of behaviour that is completely unacceptable.”
Those statements hinge on the assumption that Bloxham is working with Guppy – something they’ve both denied. The Spinoff sent a follow-up email to Guppy asking why his posts were so similar to Bloxham’s, and why Bloxham’s voice could be heard in two of the videos.
Guppy didn’t respond, but answered his phone the next day. He maintained that he had no involvement with Bloxham. He admitted they had worked together in 2022, but said there was no connection this year. When asked about the videos, he described them as an “interview” and not paid media. He denied that Bloxham had written any of his Facebook posts.
Less than an hour later, Bloxham called. He also described the videos on Guppy’s Facebook page as an interview and denied writing any other posts.
“No, I don’t do Facebook,” he said. “It’s all done in Karachi for a bowl of rice.” He said most of Wellington – Live’s posts were produced by content mills in Pakistan. “They work for literally nothing…. I feel a lot of them are actually exploited.”
Bloxham said he personally disliked Zee because she had complained about him filming a candidate debate. “She tried to censor me,” he said. “She treated me like I was a fucking fuckwit from the printing department.” When asked about the allegations of abusive communications towards other local politicians, Bloxham referred to Barry as “a cocksucker” and questioned whether Whanau “is, in fact, a woman”.
Bloxham and Guppy have both denied that they are working together this year. In the end, it’s down to the voters to decide what they think – and if they care.
Since September 3, the tone of Guppy’s Facebook page has changed again. The quantity of posts has slowed considerably – just two in six days. There are no more hashtags, and a notable improvement in correct spelling and grammar.