Leanne Brown always harboured ambitions of running for Tauranga City Council at some point - it was just a matter of when the time was right.

This week the current Bethlehem Town Centre marketing manager won a tight race for the vacant Mount/Papamoa Ward seat with 3250 votes, edging out former Labour candidate Clare Wilson with 3208.
Leanne Brown is the new Tauranga City councillor, after winning the Mount/Papamoa Ward by-election. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

'It's been a very anxious 24-hours but obviously I'm really thrilled with the result. Clare was a very strong second and I'm pleased she had such a strong result as well,” says Leanne, after preliminary results had her with a slender 32-vote lead ahead of Clare.

Former Tauranga City councillor Murray Guy came in third with 1202, followed by Matua Parkinson with 889 and Janet Peters with 654.

The win means Leanne joins Steve Morris as a Mount/Papamoa Ward councillor after Clayton Mitchell stood down from the role to become a NZ First List MP.

Speaking to SunLive from her Papamoa home, Leanne says her desire to run for council has been quietly simmering since 2013 and the Local Body Elections. But it was a matter of when she was ready to make the step up.

'I did consider running for council back in the 2013 triennial election,” she says, 'but I still had a number of things to achieve on my list at Mount Mainstreet [Leanne was Mount Mainstreet manager for five years], so I wasn't quite ready at that point in time.

'So when the position came up from Clayton, I felt I was ready to take on the challenge of being a city councillor.”

Leanne is excited about her new role, bringing with her fresh ideas. Top of her list is improving communication between the council and residents.

With a background in communications, she plans to make sure decisions are fully explained with facts when made public so residents understand the reasons behind the decision.

And she's already in full swing with her new role, having met with past and present councillors, the Mayor and council staff in recent months to get up to speed on the issues facing her ward and the city as a whole.

'I'm the ‘go to' now along with Steve [Morris] and to be the voice for the Mount and Papamoa,” she adds.

The voter return for the by-election was 9218 voting papers, representing a 29.35 per cent turnout. There were six informal and nine blank voting papers.