Tory Whanau
Official Candidate Biography
As the current Mayor of Wellington it would be an honour to serve another term and work to deliver better outcomes for mana whenua.
Under my mayoralty, we’ve made amazing progress for the city: A record investment of $1.8b in water and over 9,000 leaks fixed; Passing the District Plan to enable thousands of new homes, 373 affordable rentals and upgrades now planned for over 800 social housing units; 27 km new cycleways and bus priority lanes have doubled from 4km to 8km; Planted 223,000 trees around Wellington; On track to open the Central Library, Civic Square and the Town Hall in the next two years
Plus much more. A want to continue leading a community that celebrates diversity and looks after its most vulnerable. Most importantly, I want us to ensure we're honouring te tiriti with our iwi partners.
Connect with Tory Whanau
Tory Whanau’s Elections & Candidacies
Note: This database contains data from the 2023, 2020, 2017 and 2014 general elections, the 2025 local government election and is gradually being backfilled with other election data.
Contested 2 races — 1 elected 1 not elected
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Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori WardWellington City CouncilAffiliation: Green PartyFinal Not electedVote share • 36.5%1,148 votes
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Final ElectedVote share • 39.9%34,462 votes
Offices held
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MayorWellington City CouncilAffiliation: IndependentOct 2022 – Oct 2025
In the News
Tory Whanau calls out harassment, bullying and rumour in final council speech
Stuff — October 8, 2025Critics, colleagues and bullies: no one spared in Wellington mayor Tory Whanau’s parting shot.
Tory Whanau plans blistering farewell speech
The Post — October 8, 2025The media, colleagues and predecessors will be in the firing line when the Wellington mayor delivers a no-holds-barred valedictory.
Windbag: The case for every Wellington mayoral candidate
The Spinoff — October 7, 2025Twelve people are running to be the next mayor of Wellington. Here’s the best reason to vote for each of them.
Windbag: An obituary for Vision for Wellington
The Spinoff — September 30, 2025The political super-group presented its final ‘vision’ for the city, but is anyone still listening?
The trickiest problem for Wellington’s next mayor
The Spinoff — September 29, 2025Once water reform is out of the way, all eyes will turn to the complex, expensive quagmire of the council’s social housing. For many years, the role of mayor of Wellington has been the biggest hospital pass in New Zealand politics. The capital is a city with myriad post-earthquake infrastructure problems, the council is saddled with big bills, and the mayor shoulders all the blame from the frustrated public.
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This database currently contains data from the 2025 local government eleciton, and general elections in 2023, 2020, 2017 and 2014. It is being backfilled with older data. Please get in touch if you want to help.