Joshua Love
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Joshua Love | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joshua Nathanuel Love 7 February 1991 |
| Died | February 7, 2025 (aged 34) |
Joshua Nathanuel Love (7 February 1991 – 7 February 2025) was a New Zealand hospitality entrepreneur and political candidate. He founded and directed 88 Cups Limited, a small coffee-shop chain trading as Eightyeight Cups with several "hole-in-the-wall" outlets in central Auckland.[1][2]
Love pursued political office on two occasions. He announced his intention to contest the 2019 Auckland mayoral election[3][4][1] but did not appear on the final list of candidates.[5] In 2020 he was selected as the candidate of The Opportunities Party (TOP) for the Auckland Central electorate at the 2020 New Zealand general election, but resigned from the party on 1 July 2020 after an internal warning letter alleging misconduct was made public. He went on to contest the seat as an independent, placing ninth of eleven candidates with 73 candidate votes.[6][7][8]
Love was killed on 7 February 2025, his 34th birthday, after being struck by three vehicles on Auckland's Southwestern Motorway near Mount Roskill. None of the drivers stopped. No driver had been publicly identified.[9][10][11]
Business career
[edit source]The National Business Review described Love as a "born and bred Aucklander".[1] He was the sole director and shareholder of 88 Cups Limited, a coffee-shop company incorporated on 21 July 2016 and trading as Eightyeight Cups.[2] By mid-2019 the business operated four "hole-in-the-wall" coffee outlets in central Auckland.[1] A 2025 retrospective in the New Zealand Herald recorded outlets on Beach Road and two on Queen Street, and said Love had "been featured in media as a groundbreaking entrepreneur for his cafe chain."[12] The chain closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] Love's family later said his "once successful and growing businesses eventually crumbled throughout the Covid lockdowns."[11]
Political career
[edit source]2019 Auckland mayoral campaign
[edit source]In March 2019, Stuff named Love among a group of minor declared candidates — alongside John Palino and Craig Lord — challenging incumbent mayor Phil Goff and his main rivals in the 2019 Auckland mayoral election.[4] That July, the National Business Review profiled Love as the last in a series of candidate interviews.[1] Goff was re-elected in October 2019. Love did not appear on the final candidate list when nominations closed.[5]
2020 Auckland Central candidacy
[edit source]Love was selected as The Opportunities Party's candidate for the Auckland Central electorate ahead of the 2020 general election.[7] On 1 July 2020 he resigned in a live video posted to his Facebook page, which then had around 11,000 followers, describing TOP as "the worst organisation I've worked for."[6][7][13] The resignation followed a written warning from TOP secretary Ray McKeown that raised potential breaches of the Electoral Act 1993 and alleged "aggressive and confrontational" behaviour, including a claim that Love had attended a party meeting while hungover.[7] TOP leader Geoff Simmons said the party treated Love's public response as a resignation, and that it had proven "difficult to make sure he's singing from the same song sheet."[6][7] Love disputed parts of the letter, apologised to the board member concerned for making them "feel unsafe" while denying he had been aggressive, and said he would recontest the seat as an independent.[6][14][7] Tuariki Delamere, a former Minister of Immigration, was subsequently selected as TOP's replacement candidate for Auckland Central.[15][16]
The following day, Newshub reported that a 20-year-old woman who had contacted Love to offer support after his resignation said he had asked her to send him nude photographs.[17][18]
At the general election on 17 October 2020, Love stood in Auckland Central as an independent. Green Party candidate Chlöe Swarbrick won the seat. Love placed ninth of the eleven candidates on the ballot, receiving 73 of the electorate's 35,985 valid candidate votes.[8]
Later life
[edit source]In 2021, Love was charged with sexual assault following an incident involving a 17-year-old girl in a car park in Blenheim. He was subsequently convicted of assault and sentenced to community work and supervision.[12][11][19]
Death
[edit source]Circumstances
[edit source]In the early hours of 7 February 2025 — his 34th birthday — Love walked onto State Highway 20 (Auckland's Southwestern Motorway) from the northbound Dominion Road on-ramp in Mount Roskill and was struck by three separate vehicles.[9][11] None of the drivers stopped.[9][12] Witnesses who came to his aid blocked the road where he lay from further traffic and stayed with him until he died.[11] Police released his name to media on 12–13 February 2025 and appealed for information.[9][10]
A relative told the newspaper: "I just want to put out there that he was a decent person. He had a drive in him, in business, and in politics. He could have been really successful, he wanted to succeed in life ... no one has to be left [on the road] like that."[12][20][21]
Investigation and reaction
[edit source]A month after Love's death, police told RNZ that none of the drivers had come forward and that "vehicles as yet remain unidentified."[11] A spokesperson for Love's family said they were "extremely disappointed" and appealed directly to the drivers to contact police: "We are all casualties in this tragedy, and we must imagine you are traumatised by this also."[11] RNZ reported that Love's family were "appalled" by some media coverage of his death that included "details about his mental health and past police charges" and had made a complaint to the publication concerned.[11]
The Opportunities Party issued a statement extending condolences: "TOP extends our deepest condolences to all of Joshua's whanau and friends. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."[9][11]
Responding to press coverage of his 2021 conviction and history of mental-health difficulties, Love's family said he had "made no secret about his struggles with mental health, which tragically catapulted after his once successful and growing businesses eventually crumbled throughout the Covid lockdowns," adding that "his bravery in being honest and candid about his struggles was admirable."[11] No driver had been publicly identified or charged.[22]
Electoral history
[edit source]| 2020 general election: Auckland Central[23] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: |
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% | ||
| Green | Chlöe Swarbrick | 12,631 | 35.10 | +25.38 | 6,937 | 19.06 | +5.19 | ||
| Labour | Helen White | 11,563 | 32.13 | −7.68 | 16,751 | 46.02 | +8.31 | ||
| National | Emma Mellow | 9,775 | 27.16 | −18.08 | 7,680 | 21.10 | −18.05 | ||
| ACT | Felix Poole | 588 | 1.63 | +1.11 | 2,724 | 7.48 | +6.43 | ||
| Opportunities | Tuariki Delamere | 320 | 0.89 | −1.44 | 776 | 2.13 | −1.01 | ||
| NZ First | Jenny Marcroft | 274 | 0.76 | −1.22 | 622 | 1.71 | −2.16 | ||
| New Conservative | Kevin Stitt | 186 | 0.51 | +0.33 | 197 | 0.54 | +0.44 | ||
| Sustainable NZ | Vernon Tava | 120 | 0.33 | — | 59 | 0.16 | — | ||
| Independent | Joshua Love | 73 | 0.20 | — | |||||
| TEA | Dominic Hoffman Dervan | 50 | 0.14 | — | 35 | 0.10 | — | ||
| Independent | Chris Sadler | 23 | 0.06 | — | |||||
| Advance NZ | 198 | 0.53 | — | ||||||
| Māori Party | 111 | 0.30 | −0.11 | ||||||
| Legalise Cannabis | 99 | 0.27 | +0.03 | ||||||
| ONE | 20 | 0.05 | — | ||||||
| Outdoors | 15 | 0.04 | +0.01 | ||||||
| Vision NZ | 11 | 0.03 | — | ||||||
| Social Credit | 7 | 0.02 | +0.01 | ||||||
| Heartland | 1 | 0.00 | — | ||||||
| Informal votes | 382 | 160 | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 35,985 | 36,403 | |||||||
| Turnout | 36,625[24] | 83.95 | +4.01 | ||||||
| Green gain from National | Majority | 1,068 | 2.97 | –2.24 | |||||
Notes
[edit source]References
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 Young, Victoria (12 July 2019). "Joshua Love offers Auckland mayoralty a fresh face, fresh opinions". National Business Review. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 "88 Cups Limited – company record". BizDb. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Lawton, Nicole (14 February 2019). "Lime e-scooter glitch: Injured Auckland man calls on Mayor Phil Goff to take action". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Auckland's mayoral race: The battle of the blue-red combos". Stuff. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 "2019 Local Elections – Final Candidate List" (PDF). Auckland Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Kronast, Hannah (1 July 2020). "Auckland The Opportunities Party candidate resigns in scathing online post". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Braae, Alex (1 July 2020). "Explosive start for Opportunities Party campaign as candidate takes dispute public". The Spinoff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Auckland Central – Official Result". Election Results 2020. Electoral Commission New Zealand. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
Primary source; lists LOVE, Joshua with 73 candidate votes and no party affiliation, i.e. as an independent.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Blackwell, Finn (13 February 2025). "Man hit by three vehicles on Auckland's South-Western Motorway identified". RNZ. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 Franks, Raphael (12 February 2025). "Joshua Nathanuel Love hit three times on Auckland's Southwestern Motorway died on birthday". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Blackwell, Finn (7 March 2025). "No one involved in fatal Auckland triple-car hit and run comes forward". RNZ. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Franks, Raphael (13 February 2025). "Joshua Love: The troubled history of the Auckland man hit by three vehicles and killed". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Braae, Alex (2 July 2020). "Explosive start for Opportunities Party campaign as candidate takes dispute public". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
Republished from The Spinoff.
- ↑ Kronast, Hannah (1 July 2020). "Auckland The Opportunities Party candidate resigns in scathing online post". Newshub. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Perich, Bronson (20 July 2020). "Auckland 'super city' a disaster imposed by Rodney Hyde – Tuariki Delamere". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Adams, Josie (10 August 2020). "Central heating: fringe parties pipe up from crowd in first Auckland debate". The Spinoff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Molyneux, Vita (2 July 2020). "Young woman 'disappointed' after former The Opportunities Party candidate asks her for naked photographs". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Molyneux, Vita (2 July 2020). "Young woman 'disappointed' after former The Opportunities Party candidate asks her for naked photographs". Newshub. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Hart, Maia (7 December 2021). "Judge commends teen's act of bravery after she addressed man who assaulted her". Stuff. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ Blackwell, Finn (13 February 2025). "Man hit by three cars on Auckland motorway identified". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
Byline "By Finn Blackwell of RNZ" — an RNZ wire report republished by ODT under a different headline.
- ↑ Blackwell, Finn (6 March 2025). "Drivers in 'horrific' hit-and-run death haven't come forward". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
Byline "By Finn Blackwell of RNZ" — republication of the RNZ story above.
- ↑ Franks, Raphael (13 February 2025). "Man hit three times on Auckland motorway identified, police continue hunt for vehicles". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
- ↑ "Official Count Results -- Auckland Central (2020)". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ↑ "Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate (2020)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 January 2021.