Andrew Judd

Andrew Mark Judd (born 1965) is a New Zealand local government politician and activist who served as the mayor of New Plymouth from 2013 to 2016.

Early life
Judd was born in Masterton in 1965, the second of six children of Peter and Jennifer Judd. His father ran a menswear shop and his mother had come to New Zealand from Guernsey as a 16-year-old. Judd was educated at Makoura College, and after a varied work history as a cloth-cutter in clothing factories, stock and station sales management cadet, home appliance retailer, and sales rep for The Radio Network, he became a dispensing optician in New Plymouth.

Political career
At the 2007 local-body elections, Judd was elected to the New Plymouth District Council as the second-highest polling candidate. He was re-elected in 2010, polling in fourth place.

Judd won the mayoralty of New Plymouth from one-term incumbent Harry Duynhoven with a 9,206 vote majority in 2013 and served one term before announcing he would not stand again in 2016.

Māori wards
In 2014 Judd caused controversy when he and his council supported the establishment of a Māori ward in New Plymouth in a move intended to increase Māori representation, lift iwi participation in council decision-making and fulfil Treaty of Waitangi obligations. Judd also called for all councils in New Zealand to have up to 50% Māori representation. The proposals were widely criticised by politicians and the media, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters calling arguments for the ward "childish nonsense" and right-wing media personality Mike Hosking labelling Judd "completely out of touch with middle New Zealand". In the months following, a publicly initiated referendum on the creation of a Māori ward, which Judd lost in a landslide, the mayor spoke to media about "a man in a Nazi uniform" coming to see him, getting removed as a patron of a club, being abused walking down the street in a Santa parade and being spat on whilst out with family at a local supermarket. Judd, a New Zealand European, labels himself a "recovering racist".

However, Judd gained the admiration and recognition of political figures, including MP Marama Fox who called for his critics to apologise in a general debate speech before parliament. Support for Judd also flowed on social media, with a Facebook group named "Andrew Judd Fan Club" reaching 10,500 members.