Real Life: Gore Mayor Ben Bell admits he considered resigning amid ‘horrible’ council rift

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

Ben Bell says he and the Gore District Council have finally “found out how to gel” after “horrible” internal conflicts blighted his first year as mayor.

Bell made history as the district’s youngest ever mayor in October 2022 when he was sensationally 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, culminating in calls for him to step down and a vote of no confidence. Bell would ultimately survive in the role, but he and Parry required external mediation to work alongside each other.

Reflecting on that tumultuous period in an interview with Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan that aired on Sunday night, Bell admitted he still finds it hard to think back on.

“It feels like quite a different reality that I was living a year ago,” he told Real Life.

“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.

“That day I went to the Senior Citizens Club and had lunch with them, and that changed my perspective on why I was in the role, and that there were people who still wanted me to be there and were excited that I was there.

“So I couldn’t do that to them, couldn’t give up on the hope that they had in me. That’s what really kept me going.”

Despite the turmoil of his first year, and the backlash to the council’s recent move to lift rates by 21 per cent, Bell told Cowan being mayor was getting easier as time went on.

“We’re working a lot better as a council,” he said.

“We’ve found out how to gel as councillors, and we’ve got a new chief executive [Deborah Lascelles] starting, so that’s really exciting for us as well. We’re turning over a fresh leaf, which is really cool.”

Bell says the public-facing nature of his role as Gore mayor is “a double-edged sword”.

“The community can be incredibly, I don’t want to say harsh, but they can be confronting. But they can also be very supportive as well - and during that time [early in my mayoralty], the community and the people who voted me in were very supportive.

“That’s what really helped me through those periods and, and realising that I was on the right path.”

Bell loves engaging with the Gore community more than any other part of the job, he said, and is motivated to deliver on his campaign promises for them.

“Which is back to basics, which we had really no choice but to do with the cost of living crisis; and to get recycling over the line. Those are two big priorities for me.

“But the list keeps on growing. I want to grow Gore and make it as prosperous as possible.”

Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here.