Local elections 2025: Gore’s youngest Mayor Ben Bell re-elected after term of conflict, no confidence vote

Re-elected Gore Mayor Ben Bell had previously been asked to resign by councillors. Photo / Gerrard O'Brien

Gore Mayor Ben Bell has been re-elected for a second term despite a tumultuous past three years in which district councillors and the council CEO called for him to step down and issued a vote of no confidence.

Bell made history as the district’s youngest ever mayor in October 2022 when he was voted into power at the age of 23, beating six-term incumbent Tracy Hicks by just eight votes. Bell was also the youngest mayor in the country.

But his relationships with councillors and then-CEO Stephen Parry quickly soured. Bell would ultimately survive in the role, but he and Parry required external mediation to work alongside each other.

But today Bell has been convincingly re-elected Mayor for a second term.

Bell, 26, has received 2917 votes compared to 1270 for his sole opponent, Gore businesswoman Nicky Davis.

The results from the Gore District Council are based on about 85% of the returned votes.

The 2022 Gore District local election campaign was described by one veteran councillor as the ugliest he had witnessed.

Just six months into the job, Bell’s tenure was marred by controversy, leaks, boycotts, stand-offs and resignations.

There were nasty rumours about salacious photos and Bell’s sexuality, with mud slung at the opposing candidate by both camps, RNZ reported.

Bell and then-chief executive Parry shared a hostile relationship which left communicating through an intermediary.

An aborted vote of no confidence in Bell followed, as did petitions calling on Parry to resign, failed mediation, and ultimately Parry’s resignation and a new chief executive being appointed.

Bell reflected on that tumultuous period in an interview with Newstalk ZB’s John Cowan in June 2024.

“It feels like quite a different reality that I was living a year ago,”

“This time last year, I was being asked to resign and I had votes of no confidence and all sorts – that was quite horrible back then. But like anything, you stay strong and you hold up against adversity and you carry on.”

Bell conceded he considered resigning amid intense pressure from inside the council, but ultimately decided it wasn’t fair on the community.

“For a split second [I thought about it]. It’d be naive to think that I didn’t,” he said.

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