Wayne Brown

Wayne Kelvin Forrest Brown (born 22 August 1946) is a New Zealand politician and the mayor of Auckland since the 2022 Auckland mayoral election. He has worked in leadership roles in several large New Zealand businesses and public infrastructure organisations. He was mayor of the Far North District Council from 2007 to 2013. Born in Auckland in 1946, Brown studied engineering at the University of Auckland before becoming a property developer in the Bay of Islands. He has also served as a director of TVNZ, Māori TV, Transpower, Vector Ltd, and was once chair of the Land Transport Safety Authority. He entered politics in 2007, winning the mayoralty of the Far North District in a landslide. After criticism for the collusion of his business and personal interests, a third term was denied to him almost as emphatically in 2013. In 2022, Brown launched a campaign for the mayoralty of Auckland, a city he had few business ties to. In the election he gained 45% of the votes cast on a turnout of 35%, compared to the 31% given to the runner up, Efeso Collins. Early life and family Brown was born in Auckland on 22 August 1946, and was educated at Auckland Grammar School. He went on to study engineering at the University of Auckland from 1964 to 1967, and graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. He then spent several years overseas. After returning to New Zealand, Brown established an engineering consulting practice in Auckland. In 1974, he married his wife, Toni, and the couple went on to have two children. Two years after marrying, they moved to Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands.