By Craig Lord

The opportunity for Auckland to have a strong common-sense centre-right Mayor became crystal clear after Friday morning’s withdrawal by Viv Beck, mayoral candidate Craig Lord says.

“Beck and I were the remaining centre-right candidates, with Brown being a centre-left link towards Efeso Collins. Now the voters have a crystal clear choice in front of them.”

Beck and Lord were parallel in many aspects of their campaigns, and both were vocal about making similar changes for Auckland.

“I congratulate Beck for putting her hand up in the first place, it’s not easy to lift your head above the parapet, but I also applaud the strength to remove herself from the race. That takes courage.”

“The feedback from voters has been fantastic, and my messages resonate. They want solutions to the problems rather than the narrative of telling people everything’s wrong. It seems my common-sense approach and policies are what they are wanting.”

“Brown has admitted he’s a one-termer. That’s not the rhetoric for someone who genuinely wants to make a difference. He has a goal of moving the Ports of Auckland North, and his true colours came out when he refused to visit the CRL – his primary campaign topic. He didn’t want to hear the truth.”

“Good changes are going to take time, perseverance, and patience. I’m willing to do that for all of Auckland. I’m excited about the opportunity to make the bad things good and the good things better.”