2022 Auckland mayoral election

The 2022 Auckland mayoral election was held on 8 October 2022 to determine the Mayor of Auckland, as part of the 2022 New Zealand local elections. The incumbent mayor since 2016, Phil Goff, did not seek re-election. Campaign issues include transport strategy, council finance issues and the Three Waters reform programme. After provisional vote counts were released on 8 October, Wayne Brown declared victory, and Efeso Collins conceded the election.^[1]

2022 Auckland mayoral election

← 2019 8 October 2022 (2022-10-08) 2025 →
Registered	1,142,237
Turnout	404,541 (35.4%)
Candidate Wayne Brown Efeso Collins Party Independent Independent Popular vote 181,810 124,802 Percentage 44.9% 30.9%
Mayor before election Phil Goff Elected mayor Wayne Brown

Candidates

Affiliation		Name	Image	Background
	Independent[2]	Viv Beck		Chief executive of Heart of the City[3] Endorsed by Communities and Residents[4] Unofficially withdrew on 16 September 2022; officially remained a candidate[5]
	Independent	Gary Brown		Hibiscus and Bays Community Board chairman[6]
	Fix Auckland	Wayne Brown		Businessman Developer Former Mayor of Far North[7] Former Chairperson of Tairāwhiti District Health Board and Northland District Health Board[8]
	Independent[9]	Efeso Collins		Auckland councillor[10] Endorsed by Labour and the Greens[9][11]
	Independent	Tony Corbett		Founder of New Zealand Sovereignty Party Candidate for the 2022 Tauranga by-election Businessman[12]
	Independent[13]	Robert Hong Hu		Lawyer Notary Soccer player[14]
	New Conservative	Ted Johnston		2019 mayoral candidate Lawyer Co-leader of the New Conservatives[15]
	Independent	Michael Kampkes		Founder of Citizens Against The Housing Act 2021[16]
	Independent	John Lehmann		[17]
	NZ Voice	Lisa Lewis		Adult entertainer[18]
	Independent	Craig Lord		2019 mayoral candidate[19]
	Independent	Pete Mazany		[20]
	Animal Justice Auckland	Michael Morris		Animal rights advocate Research scientist[21]
	Independent	John Palino		Former restaurateur 2013 and 2016 mayoral candidate[22]

Withdrawn candidates

• Leo Molloy, businessman, withdrew on 12 August 2022^[23]
• Jake Law, teacher and model. Standing for Albany ward and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board in council elections instead.^[24][25]
• Viv Beck, withdrew unofficially on 16 September 2022, and officially remained a candidate.^[5]

Declined to be candidates

• Paula Bennett, former National MP^[26]
• Phil Goff, incumbent mayor^[27]
• Richard Hills, Auckland councillor^[28]
• Nikki Kaye, former National MP^[26]
• Mark Mitchell, National MP^[29]
• David Shearer, former Labour MP^[30]
• Maurice Williamson, former National MP^[31]

Campaign

Labour and Green endorsements of Collins

In elections from 2010 to 2016, mayoral candidates Len Brown and Phil Goff ran as independents and were supported by City Vision, an Auckland group affiliated to the national Labour and Green parties. In 2019, Goff was endorsed directly by Labour.^[11] Goff, the incumbent mayor, stated he would announce his intentions on running for a third term in February 2022. Efeso Collins and Richard Hills, Auckland councillors affiliated with Labour, were both reported to be exploring mayoral candidacies while awaiting Goff's decision, in order to avoid crowding the ballot. Frustrated with Goff's timeline in light of an approaching election campaign, Collins formally announced his candidacy on 26 January.^[10] On 10 February, Hills announced he would decline to run for mayor, citing the recent birth of his son.^[28] Labour announced a process to decide the party's endorsee on 15 February;^[32] the process was uncontested, and on 28 February, Labour endorsed Collins' independent campaign.^[9] On 15 March, the Green Party announced their endorsement of Collins. This was the first time that the party endorsed a mayoral candidate in Auckland.^[11]

National and C&R endorsements

Molloy claimed on 17 June 2022 while on The AM Show that the National Party had offered to endorse his mayoral campaign, adding that Beck should leave the race. When asked who specifically he had been talking to, Molloy did not identify any individuals, replying "everybody".^[33] A spokesperson for National leader Christopher Luxon stated they weren't sure who Molloy was referring to and that they had not endorsed him.^[34] The National Party-aligned Communities and Residents local body group endorsed Viv Beck on 12 July 2022.^[4]

Debates

The Penrose Business Association hosted a debate between seven candidates on 23 June.^[35][36] A debate hosted by the Takapuna Beach Business Association on 6 July saw seven candidates discuss issues such as climate change and the possibility of a second harbour crossing.^[37] On 20 July, Shane Te Pou moderated a debate at Ngā Whare Waatea in Māngere for Radio Waatea between four candidates.^[38][39][40]

Six candidates attended a University of Auckland Debating Society on 26 July moderated by Jack Tame, during which Ted Johnston was egged after unknowingly referring to an audience member with Tourette syndrome as "team Efeso" (in reference to Efeso Collins), for which he later apologised.^[41][42] Wayne Brown was absent due to the debate conflicting with a campaign fundraising dinner.^[43]

Date	Organiser(s)	Moderator(s)	Participants
			Beck Independent	G. Brown Independent	W. Brown Independent	Collins Independent	Johnston New Conservative	Lord Independent	Molloy Independent
23 June	Penrose Business Association[35][36]	—	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
6 July	Takapuna Beach Business Association[37]	—	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
20 July	Radio Waatea[38][39][40]	Shane Te Pou	Present	Absent	Absent	Present	Absent	Present	Present
26 July	University of Auckland Debating Society[41][42][43]	Jack Tame	Present	Present	Absent	Present	Present	Present	Present

Campaign issues

Transport

Efeso Collins has proposed making public transport in Auckland fare-free.

Collins' flagship policy is free public transport, which is estimated to cost $100–$250 million annually. He has pointed out that some Auckland residents spend 30% of their income on transport, and that free public transport is "the first and best way" to reduce Auckland's greenhouse gas emissions.^[44]

Brown has not announced a transport strategy. Instead, he will "get rid of the road cones" and "make sure all the existing projects are finished before new ones are started".^[45]

Law supports better alternatives to cars, and specifically the expansion of the rail network.^[24] Lord also opposes the light rail project, and wants to lobby the central Government to spend the funds in more critical regions such as passenger rail to Kumeu, and wants to put overhead transport options on the table.^[46]

Molloy supported a one-year trial of free public transport, funded through the existing regional fuel tax revenue. Molloy described himself as pro-private car and was in favour of a congestion charge of $3.50.^[47] Molloy was not interested in encouraging more cycling. He opposed the proposed light rail project and claimed it "will never happen in my lifetime".^[48] Beck did not support universal fare-free public transport, but supported targeted concessions.^[49]

Council finances

Collins is open to discussions around rebalancing the proportions of council income coming from rates, dividends from public assets and central government contributions, and is "proud" that rates only make up half of Auckland's revenue, but is not ruling out rates increases.^[50] He opposes the sale of strategic assets, including shares in Auckland Airport.

Lord has pledged to focus on providing core services, promising to be "focused on necessities over niceties", and is adamant that the council can be a much more streamlined and efficient entity.^[31]

Leo Molloy suggested the Ports of Auckland be privatised.

Molloy stated that the $1 billion annual spending on wages for council employees needs to be reduced, and proposed removing the middle layer of council administration. He planned to limit rates rises to the rate of inflation of council expenses. He proposed selling Ports of Auckland and the leasehold estate of the land they operate on, which he claimed would raise $7 billion and $10 billion, respectively, and was open to selling shares in Auckland Airport and Eke Panuku, the council-controlled organisation responsible for urban redevelopment. Beck saw future rates rises as "difficult", and supported the sale and movement of the central port.^[49]

Water reform

The government is proposing a Three Waters reform programme to centralise water management infrastructure between territorial authorities. Collins supports the reforms, but notes that Auckland has invested significantly into Watercare Services and has issues around the details of the future governance of assets should the reforms proceed. Brown, Lord and Johnston oppose the reforms, with Brown calling the proposed co-governance model for water management "a dumb idea".^{[51][52][49][53][54][55]}

Co-governance

Co-governance is a power-sharing arrangement between iwi and elected representatives. Collins fully supports co-governance. Wayne Brown believes it is acceptable in certain cases, such as the Whanganui River and where iwi have a long and strong interest in matters like the maunga (volcanoes).^[51][52] Lord opposes co-governance completely.^[55][52]

Opinion polling

Unknown and undecided voters are excluded from these counts but may represent a large proportion of the voters e.g. 33-43% in two September polls.^[56]

Date[a]	Polling organisation	Viv Beck	Gary Brown	Wayne Brown	Efeso Collins	Ted Johnston	John Lehmann	Craig Lord	Leo Molloy	Michael Morris
		Independent	Independent	Fix Auckland	Independent	New Conservative	Independent	Independent	Independent	Animal Justice
16–20 September 2022	1 News–Kantar Public[57][58]	8	5	35	29	1	<0.5	8	—	1
11–18 September 2022	Ratepayers' Alliance–Curia[59]	10	3	28	26	4	—	8	—	—
16 September 2022	Viv Beck withdrew from election[5]
15 September 2022	Talbot Mills[b][59][60]	12	—	22	27	—	—	9	—	—
8–15 September 2022	1 News–Kantar Public[57][58]	14	4	24	29	1	<0.5	10	—	1
12 August 2022	Leo Molloy withdrew from election[23]
3–11 August 2022	Ratepayers' Alliance–Curia[61]	12.5	6.2	18.6	22.3	6.4	4	7.2	14.5	3.1
18–24 July 2022	Key Research[c][62]	19	–	21	28	–	–	8	23	–
3–10 July 2022	Ratepayers' Alliance–Curia[63]	18	–	15	27	5	–	13	23	–
1–12 June 2022	Ratepayers' Alliance–Curia[64]	20.5	–	20.1	21.7	–	–	16.0	21.7	–

Results

2022 Auckland mayoral election^[65][66]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Fix Auckland	Wayne Brown	181,810	44.94
	Independent	Efeso Collins	124,802	30.85
	Independent	Craig Lord	25,021	6.18	−1.86
	Independent	Robert Hong Hu	8,718	2.15
	Independent	Gary Brown	8,683	2.14
	Independent	Viv Beck	7,101	1.75
	Independent	Tony Corbett	5,479	1.35
	Independent	John Alcock	5,262	1.30
	New Conservative	Ted Johnston	4,841	1.19	−3.06
	Independent	Michael Coote	4,015	0.99
	Independent	Pete Mazany	3,690	0.91
	STOP Trashing Our Planet	Tricia Cheel	3,029	0.74	−0.37
	Christians Against Abortion	Phil O'Connor	2,526	0.62	−0.46
	Animal Justice Auckland	Michael Morris	2,183	0.53
	Independent	John Palino	2,144	0.52
	NZ Voice	Lisa Lewis	2,122	0.52
	Independent	Michael Kampekes	1,899	0.46
	Independent	Dani Riekwell	1,708	0.42
	Independent	John Lehmann	1,068	0.26
	Independent	David John Feist	1,006	0.24	−0.38
	Independent	Alezix Heneti	924	0.22
	Independent	Ryan Earl Pausina	526	0.13
	Independent	James Malcolm Dunphy	460	0.11
Total valid votes			399,017	98.63	-0.96
Informal votes			784	0.19	−0.24
Blank ballots			4,740	1.17
Majority			57,008	14.09
Turnout			404,541	35.41	−1.11
Registered electors			1,142,237

By local board

Local board subdivisions won by Brown

Local board subdivisions won by Collins

Source:^[67]

		Wayne Brown		Efeso Collins		Craig Lord		Others[d]		Total
Board	Subdivision[e]	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Aotea Great Barrier	—	135	30.41	180	40.54	14	3.15	115	25.90	444
Albert-Eden	Maungawhau	6,950	48.64	5,439	38.07	425	2.97	1,474	10.32	14,288
Albert-Eden	Owairaka	4,922	36.09	6,852	50.24	492	3.61	1,372	10.06	13,638
Devonport-Takapuna	—	10,258	54.96	5,045	27.03	756	4.05	2,605	13.96	18,664
Franklin	Pukekohe	5,731	53.26	1,841	17.11	1,340	12.45	1,849	17.18	10,761
Franklin	Wairoa	5,082	60.28	1,410	16.73	898	10.65	1,040	12.34	8,430
Franklin	Waiuku	2,234	46.67	880	18.38	761	15.90	912	19.05	4,787
Henderson-Massey	—	8,379	35.05	8,403	35.15	1,801	7.53	5,325	22.27	23,908
Hibiscus and Bays	East Coast Bays	8,414	57.08	2,901	19.68	993	6.74	2,434	16.51	14,742
Hibiscus and Bays	Hibiscus Coast	10,371	55.06	3,256	17.29	1,403	7.45	3,805	20.20	18,835
Howick	Botany	6,573	50.52	2,331	17.92	594	4.57	3,512	26.99	13,010
Howick	Howick	7,505	57.58	2,261	17.35	834	6.40	2,435	18.68	13,035
Howick	Pakuranga	6,298	56.14	2,017	17.98	796	7.10	2,108	18.79	11,219
Kaipātiki	—	9,429	43.85	6,983	32.47	1,177	5.47	3,914	18.20	21,503
Māngere-Ōtāhuhu	—	2,528	18.97	7,571	56.81	438	3.29	2,789	20.93	13,326
Manurewa	—	4,608	29.09	7,047	44.48	661	4.17	3,526	22.26	15,842
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki	Maungakiekie	3,112	40.27	3,138	40.61	301	3.89	1,177	15.23	7,728
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki	Tāmaki	3,125	34.73	3,510	39.01	376	4.18	1,987	22.08	8,998
Ōrākei	—	19,080	64.30	6,855	23.10	1,041	3.51	2,697	9.09	29,673
Ōtara-Papatoetoe	Ōtara	473	9.38	3,469	68.80	72	1.43	1,028	20.39	5,042
Ōtara-Papatoetoe	Papatoetoe	2,297	29.98	3,283	42.85	270	3.52	1,811	23.64	7,661
Papakura	—	4,642	41.98	2,980	26.95	831	7.51	2,605	23.56	11,058
Puketāpapa	—	5,814	43.05	4,722	34.96	507	3.75	2,462	18.23	13,505
Rodney	Dairy Flat	1,546	63.86	372	15.37	187	7.72	316	13.05	2,421
Rodney	Kumeu	5,193	49.21	1,922	18.21	1,913	18.13	1,524	14.44	10,552
Rodney	Warkworth	4,730	54.65	1,761	20.35	1,004	11.60	1,160	13.40	8,655
Rodney	Wellsford	839	43.25	318	16.39	456	23.51	327	16.86	1,940
Upper Harbour	Upper Harbour	8,943	53.53	3,194	19.12	1,169	7.00	3,402	20.36	16,708
Waiheke	—	1,296	36.03	1,767	49.12	127	3.53	407	11.31	3,597
Waitākere Ranges	—	5,574	36.05	6,170	39.90	1,671	10.81	2,048	13.24	15,463
Waitematā	—	9,744	44.32	9,923	45.13	529	2.41	1,791	8.15	21,987
Whau	—	5,985	34.01	7,001	39.79	1,184	6.73	3,427	19.47	17,597
Total		181,810	45.56	124,802	31.28	25,021	6.27	67,384	16.89	399,017

Notes

1. These are the survey dates of the poll, or if the survey dates are not stated, the date the poll was released.
2. Poll commissioned by Efeso Collins
3. Poll commissioned by Wayne Brown
4. Excludes informal votes
5. Not all local boards are subdivided