Photos: Amalia Osborne
Auckland mayoral candidate Kerrin Leoni is a woman who knows what she wants, is determined to break glass ceilings to get it, and to pave the way for other women to achieve their dreams too.
“I think it’s a good thing we push against the odds when people tell us we can’t do something,” enthuses Kerrin, 44. “When someone says, ‘You’re crazy to run for mayor,’ I know, actually I’m not. There’s a lot of Māori women capable of doing this job, but it’s about us being confident enough to step up and do it.”
In 160 years, there have only been two female mayors of Auckland. Dame Catherine Tizard was mayor in 1983, and then Christine Fletcher was in 1998.
Throwing her hat in the ring against the incumbent Wayne Brown, Kerrin wants to be the first Māori mayor of Auckland and the first woman to head up the Super City.
“From a young age, my mum always told us to be strong in our feelings and whatever we wanted to achieve, to go for it,” she shares.
Kerrin’s mum Royda Leoni and grandmother Rita Leoni raised her in Mount Roskill in her early years. Then, she spent time with her uncle Aaron Leoni and dad Harold Salmon’s family on Waiheke Island as a teen.
“I’ve had some very influential mana wāhine [strong women] in my life, including my aunties,” reflects Kerrin. “My grandma was 80 when she first went to university and did her degree in te reo Māori. She was very staunch and taught me to never give up. My mum was a really hard worker in nursing homes.
“Intergenerational wealth wasn’t there growing up. I’ve already broken some of those glass ceilings going to university to get a degree [in social work]. I also did two Master degrees after that [in youth development, then international politics and economics].
Empowering others, especially young Māori, has always been a cause close to Kerrin’s heart.
In 2014, while living in London running her own consultancy business, she started the charitable organisation Mana Aroha, which provides cultural exchanges to the UK, and mentoring for Māori and Pasifika youth.
“How do we keep breaking cycles?” muses Kerrin. “That’s the passion I will always come back to. How to show the next generation and those in the worst positions that they can achieve whatever they want with the right support.”
After a decade living overseas, Kerrin returned home to New Zealand in 2016. Here, she gave birth to her now eight-year-old twins Kahu and Atarangi in 2017.
“I was 36 when I was blessed with our babies,” shares Kerrin. She co-parents her son and daughter with former partner, musician and music teacher Damian Hauwai. “At one point, I wasn’t sure I would be able to have kids and next thing I had two!”
Kerrin explains she never had a medical cause to believe she couldn’t have children. But in her mid-thirties, following the common messaging that fertility drops dramatically as you age, she began to question if motherhood was in her future.
“It was a big change from travelling the world to being at home breastfeeding twins,” she recalls. “It was definitely challenging, that change in identity. But there was also so much joy.
“I love my babies – probably too much. I don’t discipline well,” jokes Kerrin, who is grateful for the support of Damian and their families, who rallied around when their children were born.
Having been by their mum’s side for four campaigns in five years – Waitematā Local Board in 2019, Waikato’s Labour Party candidate in 2020, Whau Ward councillor in 2022 and now for Auckland’s mayor – young Kahu and Atarangi are two of Kerrin’s biggest supporters, often joining her at community events.
Laughing, she shares that sometimes she’ll catch them confidently imitating her. They say, “Hi, I’m Kerrin Leoni and I’m running for mayor!”
Kerrin says she has experienced the full spectrum of reactions regarding her mayoralty campaign and ambitions.
“There’s been a lot of support, a lot of people saying they’re not surprised and then some whānau who say, ‘Oh, my goodness, you’re crazy to do that. It’s such a huge job.’”
But she doesn’t feel even remotely worried.
“Why wouldn’t I put my name up? Once you’re in politics and understand how it works, it’s not as daunting as you might think. It’s a natural progression to go from councillor to mayor.”
Kerrin looks to other politicians, like Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell and former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as reassuring examples of mothers at the top.
“We have proved and normalised that it can be done,” she says. “You can have children, run a city and be a leader. Anything is possible.”
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