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Stephen Berry
“Local body elections tend to have low voter turnout due to people’s unfamiliarity with the candidates standing,” says former Auckland Mayoral candidate and political commentator Stephen Berry. “Radical left-wing elements in the media and Local Government New Zealand are seeking to use this unfamilarity as a tool to tarnish candidates they disapprove of as conspiracy theorists and extremists.
“For Aucklanders,” Berry says, “there is an alternative information source for voters who want to elect representatives who support lower rates, oppose co-governance and actually understand the functions of the position they are standing for.” For the second local body election in a row, Mr. Berry is writing The Absolutely Biased Guide to the Auckland Local Elections.
The Absolutely Biased Guide will review every single candidate standing for Mayor, Council, Local Board and the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts in 2022. Mr. Berry will publish his findings and voting recommendations exclusively for Silver Members and above on thebfd.co.nz.
“Unlike some media outlets, I don’t pretend to be a neutral observer. This voting guide explicitly seeks to identify the candidates in each race who are most likely to take centre-right positions and oppose the continual expansion of Auckland Council. I’m also identifying those candidates who stand for nothing at all, fill their candidate statements with pointless buzzwords or stand for the sake of diversity and recommend that readers don’t vote for them.”
The Absolutely Biased Guide to the Auckland Local Elections 2022 will be the most comprehensive voting guide of its type ever written in New Zealand political history. The Licensing Trust contests and two wards and their associated local boards are already available on thebfd.co.nz for Silver Members and above and the entirety of the guide will be published prior to voting papers being issued in mid-September.
More information about the Absolutely Biased Guide to Voting in the Auckland Election 2022 can be found here: https://thebfd.co.nz/2022/08/16/absolutely-biased-guide-to-the-auckland-local-elections-2022/
Answers to questions you may have can be found here
I won’t be making any comment on individual contests or candidates outside of the guide.
