More so than New Zealand’s general election, yesterday’s local government ballots attracted a diversity of candidates that reflect the full array of ages, ideologies and social backgrounds that populate Aotearoa.
From New Zealand’s youngest mayor marred in first-term controversy, to our longest-serving councillor seeking to notch 51 years in office, and a newspaper owner who labelled an outgoing councillor a “f***ing cow”, the ballots across the country offered up some exceptional and unconventional races.
See the tight races and low turnout, who made it back and who was booted out here - and an interactive to search the results from every election race across the country.
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.
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.
Bell has been convincingly re-elected as mayor for a second term.
26-year-old Bell received 2,917 votes compared to 1,270 for his sole opponent, Gore businesswoman Nicky Davis.
These results from the Gore District Council are based on approximately 85% of the returned votes
The 2022 Gore District local election campaign was described by one veteran councillor as the ugliest he had witnessed.
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 them 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.”
New Zealand’s longest-serving councillor, Rotorua’s Trevor Maxwell, looks to have booked himself another three years in local government.
Maxwell is in his late-70s and has been an elected councillor on Rotorua Lakes Council for 48 years.
He was most recently voted on to the newly-formed Māori ward in 2022.
The subsequent three-year term put him level with Doug Truman, who served on Grey District Council from 1968 to 2016, for the national record.
Asked about plans to take the record outright after the 2025 election, he had a simple statement: “One more term.”
Maxwell looks likely to be returned to that Māori ward seat with 1,979 votes, just behind Te Rika Temara-Benfell on 2,019.
The third available Māori Ward seat on the Rotorua Lakes Council is likely to be taken by Merepeka Raukawa-Tait with 1,731 votes.
Rawiri Waru is running fourth with 1,681 votes
The results from the Rotorua Lakes Council are based on about 85% of the returned votes
Bo Burns - a Howick local board member and the owner of Times Media - has been elected as an Auckland Councillor despite earlier this week apologising for expletive-laden comments about an outgoing councillor.
Stewart had made comments on social media about the issue of “news deserts” - those communities and regions that had lost their traditional media platforms. Dozens of community newspapers, many of them owned by Stuff and NZME, have closed in recent years.
Stewart had suggested in a Facebook comment that “social media seems to be doing a good job. I would like to thank all the community groups/ grapevine and ratepayer organisations for sharing what’s happening around our community”.
That comment appears to have incensed Burns, who brought the Howick and Pakuranga Times back from the brink of closure in 2024, taking ownership of times.co.nz and now publishing the newspaper under a refreshed masthead, the Eastern Times.
Burns made comments in the staff chat group, the membership of which is understood to have numbered at least 20 people, after another person outlined what Stewart had written.
In a series of messages, Burns wrote: “omg”; “what a f***ing asshole”; and “so basically [she is] saying we don’t need community newspapers”.
However, the exchange reported by the Herald earlier this week does not seem to have hurt Burns’ campaign to become an Auckland Councillor.
Initial vote counts released by Auckland Council at 3pm Saturday, show Burns is leading the vote count in the Howick Ward with 10,222 votes.
Former National Party MP Maurice Williamson is in line to secure the second Howick Ward seat with 9,801 votes. Williamson is a sitting Auckland Councillor.
Burns was also re-elected to the Howick Local Board, which she will have to vacate to take on the Auckland Council ward seat.
The country’s longest-serving mayor, Wayne Guppy, has missed out on a ninth term as Upper Hutt’s mayor.
Guppy, 71, was first elected mayor in 2001, after serving one term as a councillor, and has been in office for 24 years.
In provisional votes with 85% counted, Guppy had been beaten by Peri Zee, who campaigned on better transport, a vibrant city centre and more health facilities.
Zee received 4,199 votes to Guppy’s 3,200.
A Local Government New Zealand spokesperson told RNZ that if Guppy was voted in again he would be on par with former Gisborne Mayor Harry Barker, who served as mayor for 27 years between 1950-1977.
Sir Tim Shadbolt was the longest-serving mayor in the country’s history, leading Invercargill for nearly three decades
An Otago Daily Times obituary shows that Sir John Thorn, a mayor of Port Chalmers Borough Council, could be the longest-standing mayor in New Zealand, serving for 33 years between 1956 and 1989.
Television producer Jamaine Ross’ comical message to Waitākere Ranges residents to avoid his name in the ballot box seems to have paid off.
“Don’t vote for me,” Ross wrote in his candidate statement to West Auckland voters.
The father, husband and television producer was standing for the Waitākere Ranges Local Board – not because he wanted the job, but because he told a room of 30 people he would.
“And when I say I’m going to do something, I do it, even if I don’t want to,” he wrote in his candidate statement to West Auckland voters.
“If I won, I’d be spending less time with my adorable 5-year-old daughter. If you vote for me, you’ll break her heart.”
And it seems the public have listened. Out of 20 candidates, Ross finished 19th with 538 votes.
Ross also admitted in his candidate statement that he was not qualified for the role: “Apparently, it involves reading lots of official documents. The only things I read are young adult novels set in post-apocalyptic futures.”
He closed with a final plea: “So don’t vote for me. This isn’t reverse psychology. I’m serious. Don’t vote for me. I don’t want this job.”
Yet on social media, Ross did reveal a hint of political seriousness, noting there were five candidate meetings – four he wasn’t invited to and one where he says he was ghosted.
“It seems a bit suspicious. Are they purposefully excluding the only Māori candidate out of 20? Probably not. They are probably just excluding the one guy who consistently says he doesn’t want to do the job.”
The six people who have been elected to the Waitākere Ranges local board on provisional vote results as of 3pm Saturday:
Mark Allen 3,931
Allan Geddes 3,775
Gregory Boone Presland 3,713
Linda Diane Potauaine 3,583
Michelle Hutton 3,554
Roman Thomas 3,543
In a somewhat unusual local race, fellow Waitākere Ranges local board candidate Bianca O’Keefe has also failed to register with voters.
At 18-years-old, O’Keefe received media attention for being one of the youngest candidates running for local election in New Zealand.
The health science student spoke to the Herald about her campaign in between studying for her upcoming exams and working 20 hours a week part-time.
“I do believe that if you want to do something, you’re going to make the time for it and you’re going to make it happen,” she said.
O’Keefe finished 14th among the candidates with 2,041 votes.
Auckland’s “Champagne Lady” Anne Batley-Burton’s campaign to sit on the Waitematā Local Board in Auckland has fallen flat.
The Real Housewives of Auckland reality TV star and self-professed champagne lover was on the centre-right Communities & Residents ticket.
Batley-Burton told the Herald during the campaign people might think she is all about celebrity TV and champagne.
However, the Parnell resident told the Herald she is “not just a pretty face” - she has a Bachelor of Commerce, was involved in a big family business manufacturing credit cards that went public, and now is in the wine industry importing champagne and wine barrels.
She campaigned on reducing crime in places like the Viaduct in the CBD, where it’s “got to the point where a lot of people say, ‘Maybe I won’t go down there on a busy night’.”
“There are so many bad things happening. It’s quite scary,” she said.
As the owner of a cat sanctuary in Huapai, Batley-Burton said she has fought long and hard to get councils on board to support desexing and microchipping of felines.
But Batley-Burton looks to have missed out on one of the seven seats on the Waitematā Local Board.
In provisional results she sits ninth with 4,283 votes.
In a social media video post, Batley-Burton conceded defeat, staying true to her image, while promoting her champagne.
“Unfortunately I didn’t get in on the Waitematā Local Board. But as they say [about champagne] In victory we deserve it, and in defeat we need it,” Batley-Burton said while holding a glass and bottle of bubbles.
The seven people who have been elected to the Waitematā Local Board on provisional voting results are:
Alexandra Bonham 6,272
Caitlin Wilson 6,158
Anahera Rawiri 5,590
Peter Dennis Elliott 5,511
Kara Kennedy 5,446
Greg Moyle 5,422
Sarah Trotman 5,189
A 19-year-old candidate for Waikato’s district council that was subject to allegations of election tampering referred to police appears to have fought off any negative publicity for a slim election win.
In September, it was alleged that student Fabio Rodrigues had been handing out voting papers to those visiting their Post Office boxes inside the GAS Pōkeno, where he works, and encouraging people to vote for him.
It wasn’t the only controversy of Rodrigues’ campaign, who was also allegedly head-butted by the husband of a rival candidate.
But it seems Rodrigues has come through the controversy to secure one of the two seats in Waikato District Council’s Tuakau-Pōkeno general ward.
Rodrigues sits second with 954 votes as Vern Reeve leads the way with 1052 votes
Third in votes is Stephanie Henderson with 833. These results reflect 90% of counted votes.
It was also alleged during the campaign that Rodrigues put his own flyers into the PO boxes while placing mail in them on behalf of NZ Post.
Election Services, which oversees the Waikato District Council election, said it had forwarded the allegations against Rodrigues to police.
Police declined to comment, citing privacy concerns.
Rodrigues categorically denied the allegations, claiming they were a part of a “smear campaign” against him.
He confirmed he handled mail as part of his role, but denied using his position for any wrongdoing.
“We can have disagreements, but we don’t have to ruin people’s livelihoods like what is happening.
“I really don’t care what my other opponents think, right? I care what the people think. I care what my voters think and the people who are struggling ... that’s what I’m worried about.”
The subject of David Farrier’s 2022 documentary Mister Organ has failed in his bid to become a Whanganui District ward councillor.
The documentary followed Michael Organ for three years after he gained notoriety for clamping cars outside an Auckland antique shop.
Organ said anyone who found the film’s assertions plausible was “unlikely to be voting for me, anyway”.
The property investor and art collector campaigned on preserving heritage buildings in Whanganui.
He opposed Māori Wards, which he said would lead to disproportionate representation, and would be voting against their retention. He also proposed offering free CBD parking for the first hour.
But the messages fell flat with his electorate. Organ finished 20th of the 23 candidates, receiving only 1,628 votes.
Nobby Clark’s brother has failed to register with voters in quite the same way as the outgoing Invercargill mayor.
Andrew (or Maxwell) Clark threw his hat in the ring for the top job at Invercargill City Council, as well as the Tasman District Council in the 2025 Local Government elections.
Andrew Clark finished sixth in the polls for Invercargill Mayor with just 248 votes. Winner Tom Campbell received 6,064. These results are based on 85% of the returned votes.
One curiosity of his campaigns was that Clark was running under different names in each district – Maxwell in Tasman and Andrew in Invercargill.
He said there is nothing secretive about it.
“My full name is Andrew Maxwell George Clark. Locally here [in Tasman] I’m known as Maxwell. In business and personal letters, people call me Andrew. I’ve advised the electoral officer in Invercargill. There’s no issue.”
Yet the name change did nothing for his fortunes with the Tasman electorate.
Maxwell Clark finished third in the Tasman Mayoral race with 991 votes. Incoming mayor Tim King received 8651 votes.
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