Andrew Little (New Zealand politician)
Andrew Little | |
|---|---|
Little in 2025 | |
| 38th Mayor of Wellington | |
| Assumed office 17 October 2025 | |
| Deputy | Ben McNulty |
| Preceded by | Tory Whanau |
| Majority | 34,522 |
| 35th Leader of the Opposition and 16th Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 18 November 2014 – 1 August 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | John Key Bill English |
| Deputy | Annette King Jacinda Ardern |
| Preceded by | David Cunliffe |
| Succeeded by | Jacinda Ardern |
| 6th Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 27 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Chris Finlayson |
| Succeeded by | Paul Goldsmith |
| 42nd Minister of Health | |
| In office 6 November 2020 – 1 February 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern Chris Hipkins |
| Preceded by | Chris Hipkins |
| Succeeded by | Ayesha Verrall |
| 49th Minister of Justice | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 6 November 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Jacinda Ardern |
| Preceded by | Amy Adams |
| Succeeded by | Kris Faafoi |
| 33rd President of the Labour Party | |
| In office 2 March 2009 – 2 April 2011 | |
| Vice President | Moira Coatsworth |
| Preceded by | Mike Williams |
| Succeeded by | Moira Coatsworth |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party List | |
| In office 26 November 2011 – 5 December 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Andrew James Little 7 May 1965 New Plymouth, New Zealand |
| Spouse |
Leigh Fitzgerald (m. 2008) |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Victoria University of Wellington |
| Website | www.andrewlittle.nz |
Andrew James Little (born 7 May 1965) is a New Zealand politician. He has served as mayor of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, since 17 October 2025.
A lawyer and former trade union official, Little was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2014 to 2017 and a senior minister in the Labour governments led by Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins from 2017 to 2023, including as Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Minister of Justice, Minister of Health and Minister of Defence.
Little was first elected as a Labour Party list MP in 2011, after serving as President of the Labour Party between 2009 and 2011. His political career followed a career in unionism, which included 11 years as the national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, New Zealand's largest private-sector union.
Little's term as Labour leader was characterised by low opinion polling results and punctuated by his resignation from the role less than two months before he was due to lead the party in the 2017 general election. Little's decision was described as "selfless" and instrumental in Labour's success under new leader Jacinda Ardern; in the following six years he served as a senior minister and was regarded as a "safe pair of hands" across twelve ministerial portfolios.
Following the Labour Government's defeat in the 2023 election, Little declined to return to Parliament as a list MP and returned to legal practice. He resumed his political career in 2025, winning the 2025 Wellington mayoral election.