Kerrin Leoni is running for Auckland mayor. Photo: Supplied/ Labour Party
Kerrin Leoni is set to formally launch her campaign for mayor of Auckland tonight.
Leoni was the only councillor so far confirmed to be challenging current mayor Wayne Brown for the mayoralty in the city's local elections later this year.
Brown launched his re-election campaign back in February.
Leoni said she expected about 150 people at Parnell Community from 6pm Friday where she would give a speech.
Despite being a Labour Party member, she would be running as an independent candidate.
She said she was excited to offer a fresh voice for Auckland.
"What I want to share today is that we need Aucklanders to vote for change. Many Aucklanders are not happy with the current leadership that we have in place and Auckland needs positive leadership for the future," Leoni said.
She said one of her key campaign policies was making sure contracts for jobs like management of council parks, community spaces, and buildings, were given to New Zealand companies.
"At the moment, a significant amount of our contracts, like Ventia for example is an Australian company, a lot of that profit is going overseas.
"We need those contracts to be local again to get more work for Aucklanders."
She said the council also needed to improve its relationship with the government.
"At the end of the day, you have to be able to work with central government to get things done for Auckland.
"We need a leader who can work with any government and I believe that has not been the greatest in the last couple of years."
Leoni said among those attending her launch were current Labour MP Willy Jackson, Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp, and former Labour MP Judith Tizard.
She said she invited all of her fellow councillors including Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson, who told RNZ last month she was still mulling over whether to join the mayoral race herself.
However, Mayor Brown was left off the guest list.
"I decided not to invite Wayne because I think it would be a bit uncomfortable for him to attend given that I am standing against him," Leoni said.
At his campaign launch, Brown told RNZ he had not invited any sitting councillors, but that he had supporters in attendance from the business sector, the property sector, and Māori, Pacific, Chinese, and Indian communities.
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