Celia Wade-Brown

Celia Margaret Wade-Brown QSO (born 12 July 1956) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 34th Mayor of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, from 2010 until 2016.

Celia Wade-Brown
QSO
Wade-Brown in 2023
34th Mayor of Wellington
In office
27 October 2010[1] – 10 October 2016
DeputyIan McKinnon (2010–13)
Justin Lester (2013–16)
Preceded byKerry Prendergast
Succeeded byJustin Lester
Member of the Wellington City Council for the Southern Ward
In office
13 October 2001 – 27 October 2010
Preceded byAlick Shaw
Succeeded byPaul Eagle
In office
30 April 1994 – 10 October 1998
Preceded byMerrin Downing
Succeeded byAlick Shaw
Personal details
Born (1956-07-12) 12 July 1956
Paddington, London, England
Political partyGreen
Other political
affiliations		Alliance (1991–1997)
Spouse
Alastair Nicholson
​
(m. 1993)​
ChildrenTwo

Wade-Brown was the third female mayor of the city, replacing centre-right Kerry Prendergast. She defeated Prendergast by 176 votes in the 2010 single transferable vote mayoral election.[2] Wade-Brown won a second term in 2013. She was the second mayor of a major New Zealand city to have been a member of the Green Party, after Dunedin's Sukhi Turner, but she stood as an independent candidate. Wade-Brown did not contest the Wellington mayoralty in the 2016 local election for a third term.

Early life

Born in Paddington, West London, to a British military officer father Paul Wade-Brown,[3] Wade-Brown grew up in a council flat.[4] She attended The Holt School in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. After school, she took a gap year in Cape Coast, Ghana, then earned an honours degree in philosophy from the University of Nottingham. She started her professional life with IBM in the United Kingdom,[5] and moved to Wellington in 1983.[4]

As an adult, Wade-Brown discovered and connected with two half-sisters.[3] One half-sister, Gitta Rupp, was an Austrian war child born to her father and an Austrian mother.[6]

Political career

National politics 1996–2002

Wade-Brown first stood for the Green Party as a list candidate (ranked 44th) under the Alliance banner in the 1996 election.[7] In the 1999 election, she stood for the Green Party as a list candidate (ranked 29th).[8] In the 2002 election, she stood for the Green Party as a list candidate (ranked 15th)[9] in the Rongotai electorate and placed third.[10] She has not appeared on the Green Party list since the 2005 election.[11][12]

Local government politics 1994–2010

Wade-Brown served as a Wellington City Councillor for the Southern ward in 1994–1998 and 2001–2010.[4]

In 2010 Wade-Brown decided to run for Mayor of Wellington instead of standing again in her council seat in Wellington's Southern ward. Wade-Brown beat the incumbent mayor, Kerry Prendergast, by 176 votes. Some media outlets reported that this was the closest margin ever seen in the Wellington mayoral race.[13] In total, Wade-Brown received 24,881 votes, compared to Prendergast's 24,705 votes.[13]

Paul Eagle replaced Wade-Brown as a Councillor for the Southern ward.

Wade-Brown did not favour Wellington's adopting a 'super city' type council like Auckland, though she supported reducing the number of councils in greater Wellington from nine to "three or four".[14]

Local government politics 2010–2016

Wade-Brown was re-elected as Mayor of Wellington in October 2013, beating her main rival John Morrison 27,171 to 24,691 after five rounds of vote allocation.[15][16]

Wade-Brown listed her priorities for the first 100 days as "the south coast cycle lanes, completing the draft annual plan before Christmas, agreeing on three-year priorities, taking first steps towards a living wage for council staff, slimming down council-owned companies and continuing to improve shared services with other councils". A basic form of the living wage was introduced in 2014, increasing salaries for over 500 council staff as well as people in the zoo, museums trust, security contractors, and cleaners.[17]

In August 2014 Wade-Brown became an executive leader of Mayors for Peace. Peace Action Wellington criticised Wellington Venues' decision to host a 'War Conference' sponsored by Lockheed Martin in June 2015 because of her role as the executive leader of Mayors for Peace.[18] A spokesperson for Peace Action Wellington said, "Her commitment to working for peace appears to be as shallow as her understanding of the role of weapons manufacturers in promoting war and militarism. In her response, the Mayor has equated the Weapons Conference with the likes of an international yoga meeting or a sustainable living expo."[18]

Wade-Brown was criticised heavily for her involvement in the construction of a cycleway in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay.[19][20] However, she increased the cycling budget from $70,000 p.a. when she was elected to $37 million over four years, including central government funding.

In 2016, the World Economic Forum recognised her as one of five ground-breaking female Mayors.[21]

Under her leadership, Wellington maintained its rank as the 12th highest city for quality of life. In 2015, Vogue magazine described Wellington as the "coolest little city" and the BBC described Wellington as the "hottest little city".[22]

Successful projects in partnership with central government included Pukeahu National Memorial Park, the Cenotaph precinct and WW100 commemorations. Other achievements included significant biodiversity increases with pest control and forest restoration. In 2013 Wellington became a Biophilic Cities partner.[23]

Celia Wade-Brown was expected to run for reelection in 2016, but announced that she would not run for the mayoralty again. Justin Lester replaced Wade-Brown as Mayor of Wellington, winning the popular vote by more than 6000 votes over his rivals.[24][25][26]

Post-mayoralty, 2016–present

Wade-Brown moved permanently to the Managatarere Valley outside Carterton in 2017 in a property she had owned with her husband since 1987.[27] After a four-year hiatus from politics, Wade-Brown was selected as the Green Party's candidate for the Wairarapa general electorate seat at the 2020 election, campaigning to maximise the Greens' party vote.[28] She will be a candidate in the Wairarapa seat again at the 2023 election.[29]

Community involvement

Wade-Brown was a founding member of the New Zealand Internet Society (now known as InternetNZ). InternetNZ is a non-profit organisation set up in 1995 dedicated to protecting and promoting the Internet in New Zealand. In 2002 Wade-Brown founded Living Streets Aotearoa,[30] a walking-advocacy organisation with 15 branches. It holds collective membership of the International Federation of Pedestrians.[31]

Wade-Brown is a Friend of Taputeranga Marine Reserve.[32]

Family

Wade-Brown is married to Alastair Nicholson and has two sons.[4]

References
  1. "Celia Wade-Brown wins Wellington mayoralty". The National Business Review. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  2. "News – Celia Wade-Brown Wins Wellington Mayoralty – Wellington City Council". wellington.govt.nz. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  3. Macdonald, Nikki (1 December 2012). "Wellington Mayor finds secret sister". Stuff. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  4. "New mayor for Wellington". The Dominion Post. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  5. "Celia Wade-Brown". Election NZ. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  6. "Occupation children shunned in post-war Germany and Austria". BBC News. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  7. "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  8. "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  10. "Official Count Results – Rongotai". 10 August 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  11. "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  12. "Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  13. "Celia Wade-Brown wins Wellington mayoralty". 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  14. "Mayors' anger at plan for supercity". 3 December 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  15. "Elections – Mayor – Wellington City Council". wellington.govt.nz. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  16. Mcbride, Katie Chapman, Tessa Johnstone and Kerry (12 October 2013). "It's Wade-Brown For Wellington". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 July 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "Living wage debate re-ignites in Wellington". Radio New Zealand. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  18. ""Peace" Mayor calls for new weapons | Scoop News". scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  19. "Mayor: Island Bay 'a mistake'". Stuff. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  20. "How a cycleway split a community". Stuff. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  21. "Five Female Mayors". weforum.org. 20 June 2016.
  22. "Wellington in BBC's 'hottest cities'". Stuff.co.nz.
  23. "Wellington". Biophilic Cities. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  24. Celia Wade-Brown pulls out of Wellington mayoral race, Radio New Zealand, Retrieved 5 August 2016
  25. Celia Wade-Brown pulls out of mayoral race, Stuff News. Retrieved 5 August 2016
  26. "Wellington: Lester to replace Wade-Brown". Radio New Zealand. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  27. Round, Sally (21 April 2023). "Off grid and farming carbon". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  28. MacManus, Joel (27 May 2020). "Former Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown running for Green Party in Wairarapa". Stuff. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  29. Fuller, Piers (29 March 2023). "Wade-Brown puts her hand up again for Wairarapa seat". Stuff. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  30. "eBulletin September 2009". Living Streets Aotearoa. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  31. IFP. "Board Members – International Federation of Pedestrians". pedestrians-int.org. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  32. "Friends of Taputeranga Marine Reserve". Taputeranga Marine Reserve. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
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