Leanne Brown wins Mount Papamoa byelection

Leanne Brown has been declared the winner of this year's byelection for the Mount Maunganui Papamoa ward.

Former Mount Mainstreet manager Leanne Brown has been declared winner of the Mount Maunganui Papamoa byelection.

Ms Brown received 3250 votes, just 48 more than former Labour candidate Clare Wilson who received 3208.

Murray Guy, Matua Parkinson and Janet Peters followed in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Ms Brown was tipped to win according to preliminary results released yesterday afternoon.

Postal votes were processed by Christchurch-based Electionz.com, the council's election contractor.

Final results:

BROWN, Leanne - 3,250
WILSON, Clare - 3,208
GUY, Murray - 1,202
PARKINSON, Matua Independent - 889
PETERS, Janet - 654
INFORMAL - 6
BLANK VOTING PAPERS - 9

The voter return was 29.35 per cent, being 9,218 voting papers.