On 12 October 2013, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government roles.

Wellington is one of eight local bodies in New Zealand that uses the Single transferable vote system to elect its Mayor and Councillors.

Dr Keith Johnson, an economist from Island Bay who ran as a Labour candidate for the Southern Ward in 2010, initially proposed to stand.

[8] He subsequently withdrew, saying that There was not much resonance in the concerns I had for debt control and against the rebalancing of rates.

[12] Candidates were also elected from wards to the Wellington City Council.