Former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has hinted at a possible run for the Auckland Mayoralty in 2025.
"I can't say that I won't be going for it," Bennett said during AM's panel on Wednesday.
She couldn't "definitely say I am" running, however.
"I don't know," the former National Party deputy leader said. "I'm angry with the city and where it's at and what we're doing, and I find myself more and more feeling like that."
Bennett's comments came after an NZ Herald report on Sunday said she was "talking to people" about running for the Mayoralty, citing an unnamed source.
Proud west Aucklander Bennett spent 15 years in National, before leaving politics in 2020 after being displaced as the party's deputy leader.
Bennett declared earlier this year Aucklanders "got what you voted for" in current Mayor Wayne Brown, amid heavy criticism over his handling of the city's January flooding emergency.
"Do you sit back and complain or do you step in?" she questioned on Wednesday.
Brown garnered a strong show of support in last year's election, collecting 181,810 votes - 57,000 ahead of second-placed Efeso Collins.
Bennett said any potential run wouldn't "necessarily be a criticism" of Brown.
"I hope he does a good job," she added.
"They've got some big decisions to make and at least they're making them.
"It's not me necessarily thinking against him, it's more just thinking perhaps, by then, we need a different style of leadership as well - and I would certainly be different."
