Len Brown

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Len Brown (born 1956, Auckland, New Zealand) is the current mayor of Manukau, New Zealand and a former lawyer and city councillor. He was elected mayor of Manukau in October 2007, the second time he ran for that office.

[edit] Career

He was raised in Otara, and attended Mayfield Primary, then Papatoetoe Intermediate and went to secondary school at De La Salle College. A lawyer by profession, Brown was a high profile partner at Wynyard Wood, and co-founded the Howick Free Legal Service. He was first elected to the Manukau City council in 1992, and continued as councillor until 2004 when he did not run for re-election. He was also the chairperson of the Counties Manukau Health Council from 1998. Brown first ran for mayor of Manukau in 2004, and narrowly lost to long serving mayor Sir Barry Curtis; he lost by less than 600 votes. Brown had considered requesting a re-count due to the closeness of the vote, but decided that he had not been close enough to warrant it.[1] Despite his affiliation with the New Zealand Labour Party, Brown did not run for election in the 2005 General Election, and instead returned to working for Wynyard Wood.[2]

Brown announced his candidacy for the Manukau Mayoralty in 2006,[3] Barry Curtis announced that he would not be running for re-election, and Brown's main opposition were former Olympic runner Dick Quax and radio personality Willie Jackson. Brown resigned from Wynard Wood in 2007 to focus on his candidacy full time. In August 2007, both Quax and Brown were polling "neck and neck".[4] Brown ran on several policies, including; capping rates at the cost of inflation, increasing public transport, and working with youth in the region.[5]

Brown won election in October 2007 with over 32000 votes; his next closest rival Dick Quax had less than 18000.[6] He was officially sworn in on 26 October 2007 at the Manukau City Council hall.[7]

Brown is married to Shirley Anne Inglis, and has three children; Samantha, Olivia, and Victoria.

He suffered a massive heart attack on 31 May 2008 while at a music awards ceremony, and was admitted to Auckland Hospital.[8] Brown had heart bypass surgery two days later.

[edit] References

  1. ^ English, Philip. "News all good for Sir Barry; ELECTIONS: After days of uncertainty, Sir Barry Curtis is confirmed as Manukau City Mayor", New Zealand Herald, 2004-10-15, p. A12. 
  2. ^ English, Philip. "Candidate clings to hope; Len Brown fought for Manukau's mayoralty and isn't admitting defeat", New Zealand Herald, 2004-10-13, p. A11. 
  3. ^ Brown, Ken (2006-08-18). Len Brown Announces Manukau Mayoralty Candidacy. scoop.co.nz. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
  4. ^ "I MADE FOUR predictions on the upcoming mayoral elections earlier this year", New Zealand Herald, 2007-08-27. 
  5. ^ "Brown shares his ideas", theaucklander.co.nz. Retrieved on 2007-10-26. 
  6. ^ Taylor, Phil. "Len Brown wins Manukau mayoralty", times.co.nz, 2007-10-17. Retrieved on 2007-10-26. 
  7. ^ Haka, James. "Ovation as Brown sworn in", nzherald.co.nz, 2007-10-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-26. 
  8. ^ "Manukau's Mayor Len Brown collapses after massive heart attack", The New Zealand Herald, 1 June 2008.