City of Melbourne Lord Mayoral hopeful Nicholas Reece is finding it impossible to shake off his links with the Labor Party.
He previously held a number of roles in politics, including as secretary and campaign director of the Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) and as the director of strategy to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
He was State Secretary and Campaign Director of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, Senior Adviser to Premier John Brumby, Senior Adviser to Premier Steve Bracks, and Adviser, Policy Unit, Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd.
Cr Reece’s campaign for election as Lord Mayor is being handled by former advisers to ex-Labor Premier Daniel Andrews.
They include Adam Sims, Andrews’ ex-chief of staff Lissie Ratcliff, her deputy Jessie McCrone and strategy director Ben Foster.
A competitor to Cr Reece, Arron Wood, a former Deputy Lord Mayor, last week denied that he was linked to the Greens.
Team Reece said that Mr Wood had a Greens candidate on his ticket, and had distributed preferences accordingly.