She was the second mayor of a major New Zealand city to have been a member of the Green Party, after Dunedin's Sukhi Turner, but she stood as an independent candidate.

After school, she took a gap year in Cape Coast, Ghana, then earned an honours degree in philosophy from the University of Nottingham.

[6] Wade-Brown first stood for the Green Party as a list candidate (ranked 44th) under the Alliance banner in the 1996 election.

[8] In the 2002 election, she stood for the Green Party as a list candidate (ranked 15th)[9] in the Rongotai electorate and placed third.

[12] Wade-Brown was re-elected as Mayor of Wellington in October 2013, beating her main rival John Morrison 27,171 to 24,691 after five rounds of vote allocation.

[13][14] Wade-Brown listed her priorities for the first 100 days as "the south coast cycle lanes, completing the draft annual plan before Christmas, agreeing on three-year priorities, taking first steps towards a living wage for council staff, slimming down council-owned companies and continuing to improve shared services with other councils".

A basic form of the living wage was introduced in 2014, increasing salaries for over 500 council staff as well as people in the zoo, museums trust, security contractors, and cleaners.

In her response, the Mayor has equated the Weapons Conference with the likes of an international yoga meeting or a sustainable living expo.

"[16] Wade-Brown was criticised heavily for her involvement in the construction of a cycleway in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay.

[20] Successful projects in partnership with central government included Pukeahu National Memorial Park, the Cenotaph precinct and WW100 commemorations.