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\nAndrew Little has won Wellington’s top job. (File photo)
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Samuel Rillstone\n<\/p>\n
Andrew Little has convincingly won his bid to be the mayor of Wellington, saying he is excited and “somewhat daunted” by the role.<\/p>\n
In April, the former Labour Party leader and senior cabinet minister announced he would run for Wellington’s top job<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not long after, Tory Whanau announced she would not seek re-election for the role and would instead look to be the next Wellington M\u0101ori ward councillor.<\/p>\n Based on current results, she has lost that race to Labour candidate Matthew Reweti.<\/p>\n With 85 percent of the vote in, Little received 34,240 votes, a comfortable lead over runner-up Karl Tiefenbacher, who got 8807, and third-placed Ray Chung<\/a>, who received 6838 votes.<\/p>\n On the returned votes, fellow Labour candidates Ben McNulty, Afnan Al-Rubayee, Nureddin Abdurahman, Sam O’Brien and Matthew Reweti were elected.<\/p>\n Based on the same data, Greens candidates Geordie Rogers, Rebecca Matthews, Jonny Osborne and Laurie Foon will join them.<\/p>\n Those results would mean left-leaning party-aligned candidates would make up 10 of the 16 seats on council, including the mayor.<\/p>\n When asked how he felt, Little said he was thrilled, excited and somewhat daunted.<\/p>\n “I know there are big challenges, but I feel very privileged and honoured to have the confidence of Wellingtonians.”<\/p>\n Little said people had seen him as a person with a set of skills and a track record of leadership.<\/p>\n He said he was notified of his win by a call by the Wellington City Council chief executive Matt Prosser.<\/p>\n Little first entered politics in 2011 and left parliament following Labour’s 2023 election defeat<\/a>.<\/p>\n He shot to the party leadership in 2014, but stood down just two months out from the 2017 election, making way for Jacinda Ardern, who went on to become prime minister.<\/p>\n During his time in government, Little held 12 ministerial portfolios.<\/p>\n