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
The Shame Game: Golriz Ghahraman and Wellington mayor Tory Whanau discuss their public humiliation on The Elephant
NZ Herald — September 25, 2025Both spoke to The Elephant, an online video series about controversial topics we avoid.
Wellington Mayor ‘100% confident’ she’ll run for Parliament
Stuff — September 24, 2025Tory Whanau was previously chief of staff for the Green Party.
Mayoralty schmayoralty: these ward races will decide Wellington’s future
The Spinoff — September 24, 2025Barring a major upset, polling suggests Andrew Little will win the capital’s mayoral chains with relative ease. But the type of council he will lead is still up in the air. Andrew Little must be feeling pretty good right now. A recent Q+A Verian poll gave him a commanding lead in the race to be Wellington’s next mayor, with 58% of first-choice votes, way ahead of second-placed candidate Ray Chung on 16%.
Women councillors are experiencing a staggering level of online abuse
The Spinoff — September 16, 2025Gendered attacks and smear campaigns are pushing women out of local politics – and forcing those who remain to protect themselves.
The mayors, the media man and the mystery shrouding Upper Hutt’s election
The Spinoff — September 10, 2025An 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.
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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.