Justin Lester is a New Zealand businessman and local-government politician who served as the Mayor of Wellington between 2016 and 2019. Prior to becoming mayor he served as Deputy Mayor of Wellington from 2013 until 2016 and as a councillor for the Northern Ward from 2010. In 2019 he lost his bid for re-election, becoming the first incumbent Wellington mayor in 33 years to lose re-election after just one term in office.
Early life
Lester is from Invercargill, where he lived with his mother and two brothers in a state house. Lester has an LLB and BA from the University of Otago and a Masters of Laws from the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
Career before politics
Lester has worked in property and asset management, and in commercial real estate. He co-founded the salad bar chain Kapai in 2005.
During the 2013–2016 triennium, Lester was Deputy Mayor of Wellington and a councillor for the Northern Ward. He also served as the Chair of the Governance, Finance and Planning Committee, and the Performance Review Committee of the Wellington City Council. Lester has supported the Wellington City Council's support of the Living Wage campaign. He has criticised the Wellington Chamber of Commerce for signalling that it will take legal action against the Council for extending the living wage to security guards.
Mayor of Wellington
In December 2015, Lester announced he was running to be Mayor of Wellington on a Labour Party ticket in the October 2016 local government elections. He ran on a platform of completing Wellington projects such as the film museum, airport runway extension and a convention centre. The Labour Party planned to run a set of five candidates for Wellington City Council in the 2016 elections. In March 2016, Lester announced he would be running for mayor on a joint ticket with Labour Party city councillor Paul Eagle, who would be deputy mayor. At his campaign launch in April 2016, he announced further policies and said he would: give first-home builders a $5000 rates rebate, introduce free entry for children under five at council pools, remove the fees businesses pay to have outdoor dining on public land, and address the council's "ingrained sexism" by employing more women in senior roles. On 8 October 2016, Lester was elected Mayor of Wellington, following the 2016 Wellington City Council election. Lester received 31,921 votes, former mayor of Porirua Nick Leggett gained 24,697, and former Onslow-Western Councillor Jo Coughlan gained 15,844. In the 2016–19 triennium, Lester is the portfolio leader for arts and culture, major city projects, and governance, an ex-officio member of all Council committees and subcommittees, and the chair of Council. In February 2017 Lester announced he was looking to trim council spending by $8m to help pay for his various election promises which included strengthening the city's town hall, developing a new movie museum and convention centre, establishing an emergency reservoir at Prince of Wales park, ensuring a living wage for council employees and directing money to new infrastructure projects to help ease congestion around Wellington's Basin Reserve. Later that month, Lester announced with Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle that the council would build 750 new social housing units and affordable homes in an effort to avoid a "housing crisis". During his campaign for the mayoralty, Lester promised to significantly boost arts investment. In March 2017, following economic data that showed Wellington was New Zealand's "most creative city", Lester confirmed a $500,000 funding boost to events, access to venues and public art in a bid to keep Wellington's culture scene competitive with Auckland. Lester announced he would run for a second term in 2019. In a surprise result in October 2019, Lester lost bid for re-election to challenger Andy Foster.
Career after politics
After losing the mayoralty Lester took up a position as a Savings Ambassador for Simplicity, a KiwiSaver planning organisation, in January 2020.
Personal life
Lester lives in Johnsonville with his wife Elizabeth and two daughters. In January 2017 Lester was involved in a serious car crash driving from Mākara with his Chief of Staff, Joseph Romanos. All passengers walked away unhurt, after a truck crossed the centre line. The Wellington City Council vehicle they were travelling in was damaged beyond repair.
