22 Facts About Len Brown

Leonard Charles Brown was born on 1 October 1956 and is a former mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former head of the Auckland Council.

Len Brown won the 2010 Auckland mayoral election on 9 October 2010 and was sworn in as Mayor of Auckland on 1 November 2010, being the first to hold that title for the amalgamated Auckland "Super City", and was re-elected in 2013.

Len Brown had previously been elected mayor of Manukau City in October 2007, the second time he ran for that office.

Len Brown is married to Shirley Anne "Shan" Inglis, and has three daughters.

Len Brown was born in Taumarunui, a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand.

Len Brown's family moved to Otara, South Auckland when he was seven years old.

Len Brown remembers his youth in prosperous small-town New Zealand fondly, remarking on them as "generous, generous days".

Len Brown's life growing up has been described as revolving around family, church, school and community.

In 1990, Len Brown was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

Len Brown was first elected to the Manukau City council in 1992, and continued as councillor until 2004 when he did not run for re-election.

Len Brown was the chairperson of the Counties Manukau Health Council from 1998.

Len Brown first ran for mayor of Manukau City in 2004, and narrowly lost to long serving mayor Sir Barry Curtis by fewer than 600 votes.

Len Brown had considered requesting a re-count due to the closeness of the vote, but decided that he had not been close enough to warrant it.

Len Brown resigned from Wynyard Wood in 2007 to focus on his candidacy full-time.

Len Brown ran on several policies, including; capping rates at the cost of inflation, increasing public transport, and working with youth in the region.

Len Brown was sworn in on 26 October 2007 at the Manukau City Council hall.

The condition arose from a previously unrecognised congenital heart problem and Len Brown was admitted to Auckland Hospital.

Len Brown's wife acknowledged that the attack was not stress-related, but rather a family issue, with Len's mother having died from a heart attack at 47.

Len Brown won the position by a majority of 65,945 votes over main rival candidate, Auckland City mayor John Banks, on 9 October 2010, spending approximately $390,000.

In June 2010, Len Brown came under media attention for matters relating to his spending on his council credit card and other council expense claims, which included items of a personal nature like toys, groceries and insect repellant.

Len Brown noted that the event was a fundraiser for a local singer for which the Council bought a table, an explanation later supported by the artist.

In 2022 the story of Len Brown's affair has been made into a dramedy 'Princess of Chaos' at a cost of 2.6 million dollars.