October 11, 2025 • 7 mins
Results from this weekend's local elections are still rolling in, with some races still too close to call.
But Auckland's Wayne Brown and Christchurch's Phil Mauger have definitely won second terms with decisive victories.
Andrew Little's the new mayor in Wellington, and Tim Macindoe's won in Hamilton.
Voters in just 17 council areas have opted to keep Māori wards, with voters in 25 opting to scrap them.
Newstalk ZB election reporter Michael Sergel says Sophie Barker is leading Dunedin's mayoral race, but this outcome could change on final results.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Now News Talk ZB senior reporter Michael Sergel has been
doing an excellent job of our local body coverage here
on Newstalk ZB, and he's with us now to wrap
it all up. Good morning, Good morning. We would normally
have the new mayor of Dunedin on in this our too,
but talk me through the situation in Dunedin. I thought
we had a result, but it's very close.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, it's still sort of a very close race. We
do know for a fact that George Raddick is out.
He was the incumbent mayor. He's accepted defeat or considered defeat.
There's no bible path of victory for him at this stage.
On the progress results, Sophie Barker will be the new
mayor of Dunedin, just ahead of Andrew Simms, but the
final result will be determined by late votes, particularly those
(00:56):
votes sort of cast by students and others on I
suppose Saturday morning, yesterday morning. So we have some really
a really really tight race, and we won't know for
sure until we get a sort of clearer results from Dunedin,
and we also have a similar situation a number of
other parts of the country as well, like Fung today
where there's some really close races.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Okay, good. What kind of trends are we seeing at
a national level.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, certainly of the mayors that sought reelection, most of
them were reelected about three quarters clear support for that
blue wave that was elected in twenty twenty two. So
Auckland's Wayne Brown, christ Church as football major, Nelson's Nick
Smith to do is Tanya Tapsule. The public is also
on board with Gore's Ben Bell after what's been tumultuous
three years really in that district. Good on them, yeah, yeah,
(01:42):
and a clear mandate for a second term. But the
mayors who oversaw the big rates riss have either chosen
not to stand or have been unseated. And digging into
the numbers, most of the people who will be leading
our councils haven't been there for more than three years.
They weren't leading the councils through the COVID pandemic. That's
a global trend we've seen where COVID era leaders are
(02:04):
out of power around the world. People have sort of
voted them out or or they've moved out. And with
Kluther's Ryan Caddogan retiring and Upper Hearts Wayne Guppy and
others unseated, only a handful of our sixty seven meyas
have been there for more than six years. It's only
five meyas who have been who were in there before
twenty nineteen. So the days of the long term mayor
(02:24):
are now over. Certainly that you know the mayor that
was the mayor of fifty years, that's no longer a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And is that because after six years have been in
local council, people go I'm done, I'm out of here.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Or do you think that we've soon got a lot
of that old guard retiring Over the last six years,
we've also got a lot of mood for change. So,
particularly in that twenty twenty two election and continued in
this election, there has been a move away from those
established candidates. Wayne Guppy has been in there for twenty
four years and unseated yesterday after twenty four years in office.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Is it good that there's new blood in there? Is
it good that you've got people in there who haven't
been there for too long? As you say, no longer
than maybe three years? You know, bringing some still some positivity.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, there is the counter argument that you know, fresh
blood is good and fresh perspectives are good, and perhaps
if you're in office for six years for two terms,
then you can use those two terms that are very
passionately to get things moving. And we have had some
very long serving sort of mayors in this country who
some might argue you haven't done much, you know, after
(03:28):
there've been in office for quite a while, and there's
definitely a mood for change, and I think that the
era of the long term mayor appears to be over.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We've been talking about the turnout this morning, which has
been pretty dismal in a lot of places I see.
Rurally it's been pretty strong, but when you get into
sort of the city centers and things, it's been pretty average.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Absolutely, yes, it's definitely over forty percent in rural areas,
but initial figures show turning out tending down even further
than in twenty twenty two, not hugely, but still done
further than the last election. Only about a third of
people nationwide of voting. Lower numbers in those biggest cities,
driven by the predictable mayor races of people know who's
going to win so they don't vote. This will be
(04:09):
partly offset by this surgeon last minute votes we saw,
particularly in Auckland, just people queuing up to cast votes
on Saturday morning when they realized they needed to get
their votes in, and these votes will of course determine
many of those close races. We also, of course, today
had the vote on Mighty Wards, seventeen councils voting to
retain them, but twenty five voting to scrap them, and
(04:32):
another twenty five didn't hold votes on that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So what does that mean? We're going to have some
councils that have Murti Awards and some that don't.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yes, is that going to happen? Seventeen of the sixty
seven councils will have Might Awards and so that will
sort of just sort of carry on as normal, But
the vast majority of them, there's definitely been a pushback
to the idea of Mighty Awards from the from voters,
and looking at some of these numbers I'm seeing suggests
it does appear to be slipped down the split down
(05:02):
the left right party lines as well, So people that
were traditionally vote labor or left wing have voted to
keep them, and people that would traditionally have voted national
or right wing appear to have voted to scrap them
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And when does that come into place?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So it's immediate now, so there will be a number
of councils just White had mighty wards and it's a
bit tough for people that have voted for, you know,
that have been elected to mighty award positions that don't
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, no, absolutely, that's a yes of waste time there anyway.
Any other interesting results that we may have missed around
the country.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean the Auckland local board races is always
a bit interesting. Oscar Kiteley has won the actor play
right and Butley Burton, who was the Real Housewives star,
has lost her bid for a local board seat. You
may remember Jermaine Ross, the comedian and TV producer who
said don't vote, don't vote for me. People have got
(05:56):
the message and they haven't voted him in.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Do you think he's breathing asigh of relief?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think he is, yes, yes, Timothy Coffee. You may
remember from from from a parliamentary career for a TV career,
parliamentary career, a previous bid for local government. He has
lost his latest bid. Phillis hoops Hooper and Judy Moffett
too broadcasters in Ashburton, both in the council. Nandor Tanjos
a bit of the blast from the past former Green
(06:25):
Party MP. So he's been in local government for a while.
He has come very close to being the new mayor
of Fakatane. Michael Organ. He was featured in the David
Ferrier documentary a few years ago. He has failed his
bid to be on the Finowe District Council. The why
to a candidate who wanted his council to run a
cannabis business get into the cannabis trade. He is out
(06:46):
of luck. He has not won his seat. We've got
a really interesting race in Westland District which is Hocker Ticker,
an eighty two year old transgender woman has become the
country's second transgender mayor on the on progress results or
that that could still change. And Andrew Maxwell Clark, who
stood for both mayor of Vicargo and Tasman, failed on
(07:08):
both counts.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Brilliant Michael. Thank you very much for informing us on
all that. And if your work over the last week,
I'm sure you're slightly relieved that that is all over.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks the b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Now News Talk ZB senior reporter Michael Sergel has been
doing an excellent job of our local body coverage here
on Newstalk ZB, and he's with us now to wrap
it all up. Good morning, Good morning. We would normally
have the new mayor of Dunedin on in this our too,
but talk me through the situation in Dunedin. I thought
we had a result, but it's very close.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, it's still sort of a very close race. We
do know for a fact that George Raddick is out.
He was the incumbent mayor. He's accepted defeat or considered defeat.
There's no bible path of victory for him at this stage.
On the progress results, Sophie Barker will be the new
mayor of Dunedin, just ahead of Andrew Simms, but the
final result will be determined by late votes, particularly those
(00:56):
votes sort of cast by students and others on I
suppose Saturday morning, yesterday morning. So we have some really
a really really tight race, and we won't know for
sure until we get a sort of clearer results from Dunedin,
and we also have a similar situation a number of
other parts of the country as well, like Fung today
where there's some really close races.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Okay, good. What kind of trends are we seeing at
a national level.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, certainly of the mayors that sought reelection, most of
them were reelected about three quarters clear support for that
blue wave that was elected in twenty twenty two. So
Auckland's Wayne Brown, christ Church as football major, Nelson's Nick
Smith to do is Tanya Tapsule. The public is also
on board with Gore's Ben Bell after what's been tumultuous
three years really in that district. Good on them, yeah, yeah,
(01:42):
and a clear mandate for a second term. But the
mayors who oversaw the big rates riss have either chosen
not to stand or have been unseated. And digging into
the numbers, most of the people who will be leading
our councils haven't been there for more than three years.
They weren't leading the councils through the COVID pandemic. That's
a global trend we've seen where COVID era leaders are
(02:04):
out of power around the world. People have sort of
voted them out or or they've moved out. And with
Kluther's Ryan Caddogan retiring and Upper Hearts Wayne Guppy and
others unseated, only a handful of our sixty seven meyas
have been there for more than six years. It's only
five meyas who have been who were in there before
twenty nineteen. So the days of the long term mayor
(02:24):
are now over. Certainly that you know the mayor that
was the mayor of fifty years, that's no longer a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And is that because after six years have been in
local council, people go I'm done, I'm out of here.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Or do you think that we've soon got a lot
of that old guard retiring Over the last six years,
we've also got a lot of mood for change. So,
particularly in that twenty twenty two election and continued in
this election, there has been a move away from those
established candidates. Wayne Guppy has been in there for twenty
four years and unseated yesterday after twenty four years in office.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Is it good that there's new blood in there? Is
it good that you've got people in there who haven't
been there for too long? As you say, no longer
than maybe three years? You know, bringing some still some positivity.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, there is the counter argument that you know, fresh
blood is good and fresh perspectives are good, and perhaps
if you're in office for six years for two terms,
then you can use those two terms that are very
passionately to get things moving. And we have had some
very long serving sort of mayors in this country who
some might argue you haven't done much, you know, after
(03:28):
there've been in office for quite a while, and there's
definitely a mood for change, and I think that the
era of the long term mayor appears to be over.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
We've been talking about the turnout this morning, which has
been pretty dismal in a lot of places I see.
Rurally it's been pretty strong, but when you get into
sort of the city centers and things, it's been pretty average.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Absolutely, yes, it's definitely over forty percent in rural areas,
but initial figures show turning out tending down even further
than in twenty twenty two, not hugely, but still done
further than the last election. Only about a third of
people nationwide of voting. Lower numbers in those biggest cities,
driven by the predictable mayor races of people know who's
going to win so they don't vote. This will be
(04:09):
partly offset by this surgeon last minute votes we saw,
particularly in Auckland, just people queuing up to cast votes
on Saturday morning when they realized they needed to get
their votes in, and these votes will of course determine
many of those close races. We also, of course, today
had the vote on Mighty Wards, seventeen councils voting to
retain them, but twenty five voting to scrap them, and
(04:32):
another twenty five didn't hold votes on that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So what does that mean? We're going to have some
councils that have Murti Awards and some that don't.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yes, is that going to happen? Seventeen of the sixty
seven councils will have Might Awards and so that will
sort of just sort of carry on as normal, But
the vast majority of them, there's definitely been a pushback
to the idea of Mighty Awards from the from voters,
and looking at some of these numbers I'm seeing suggests
it does appear to be slipped down the split down
(05:02):
the left right party lines as well, So people that
were traditionally vote labor or left wing have voted to
keep them, and people that would traditionally have voted national
or right wing appear to have voted to scrap them
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
And when does that come into place?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So it's immediate now, so there will be a number
of councils just White had mighty wards and it's a
bit tough for people that have voted for, you know,
that have been elected to mighty award positions that don't
exist anymore.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Yeah, no, absolutely, that's a yes of waste time there anyway.
Any other interesting results that we may have missed around
the country.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, I mean the Auckland local board races is always
a bit interesting. Oscar Kiteley has won the actor play
right and Butley Burton, who was the Real Housewives star,
has lost her bid for a local board seat. You
may remember Jermaine Ross, the comedian and TV producer who
said don't vote, don't vote for me. People have got
(05:56):
the message and they haven't voted him in.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Do you think he's breathing asigh of relief?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
I think he is, yes, yes, Timothy Coffee. You may
remember from from from a parliamentary career for a TV career,
parliamentary career, a previous bid for local government. He has
lost his latest bid. Phillis hoops Hooper and Judy Moffett
too broadcasters in Ashburton, both in the council. Nandor Tanjos
a bit of the blast from the past former Green
(06:25):
Party MP. So he's been in local government for a while.
He has come very close to being the new mayor
of Fakatane. Michael Organ. He was featured in the David
Ferrier documentary a few years ago. He has failed his
bid to be on the Finowe District Council. The why
to a candidate who wanted his council to run a
cannabis business get into the cannabis trade. He is out
(06:46):
of luck. He has not won his seat. We've got
a really interesting race in Westland District which is Hocker Ticker,
an eighty two year old transgender woman has become the
country's second transgender mayor on the on progress results or
that that could still change. And Andrew Maxwell Clark, who
stood for both mayor of Vicargo and Tasman, failed on
(07:08):
both counts.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Brilliant Michael. Thank you very much for informing us on
all that. And if your work over the last week,
I'm sure you're slightly relieved that that is all over.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks the b from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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