2025 Hutt City Council election

2025 Hutt City Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Mayoral election
Mayor before election

Campbell Barry
Labour

Elected mayor

TBD

Council election
All 12 ward seats on the Hutt City Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 9
  United Hutt 2
  Labour 1
Popular vote share of elected councillors by ward


The 2025 Hutt City Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Lower Hutt, 13 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Hutt City Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system will be used.

The council voted to introduce a Māori ward at this election; its future will be decided in a referendum on the issue, as part of a nation-wide series of referendums.

Key dates

  • 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates will open
  • 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates will close at 12 pm
  • 9 September 2025: Voting documents will be posted and voting will open
  • 11 October 2025: Voting will close at 12 pm and progress/preliminary results will be published
  • 16–19 October 2025: Final results will be declared.[1][2]

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the city will elect the mayor of Lower Hutt, 12 city councillors from 7 wards, and the members of two community boards (Eastbourne and Wainuiomata).[3]They will also elect several members of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.[a][4]

Representation review

Following the recommendations of an independent panel,[5] The council decided to increase the number of councillors elected from the general wards from six to seven, decrease the number of councillors elected from the at-large ward from six to five, and to disestablish the Petone, Wainuiomata and Eastbourne community boards.[6] However, a review of these proposals by the Local Government Commission determined that the Wainuiomata and Eastbourne community boards would remain and only the Petone community board would be disestablished.[7][8]

Māori wards referendum

The council voted in 2023 to establish a Māori ward for the 2025 elections.[9]

The National-led coalition government passed legislation on Māori wards in July 2024, which reinstated the requirement that councils must hold a referendum before establishing Māori wards or constituencies; The council voted to affirm their decision to establish the Māori constituency, thereby triggering a referendum on the constituency to be held alongside the 2025 elections.[10][11]

Amalgamation referendum

There will be an indicative referendum alongside the election regarding potential amalgamation of the council with Wellington City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council.[12][13][3]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Mayor

Candidate[19] Photo Affiliation[b] Notes
Brady Dyer Independent Councillor for the at-large ward since 2019.[21][22] Also running for re-election as a councillor.
Ken Laban None Greater Wellington regional councillor for the Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt constituency since 2013[23][24][22]
Karen Morgan Independent Councillor since 2022, and former principal of Taita College[25][22]
Prabha Ravi Independent Founder and artistic director of Natraj School of Dance.[26][22] Also running as a councillor for the at-large ward.

Councillors

Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori ward

Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Te Awa Puketapu Tangata Whenua Incumbent chair of the Wainuiomata community board[27]

As the only candidate, Puketapu is elected unopposed as the inaugural Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori ward councillor.[28]

Western ward

The Western ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Chris Parkin None Incumbent councillor[16]
Robbie Schneider Independent

Northern ward

The Northern ward will return two councillors to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Andy Mitchell Independent Incumbent councillor for the Eastern ward[16]
Naomi Shaw None Incumbent councillor[16]

As the number of candidates did not exceed the number of positions available, Mitchell and Shaw are re-elected.[28]

Central ward

The Central ward will return two councillors to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Glenda Barratt Independent Incumbent councillor[16]
Rodney Cook None
Simon Edwards Independent Incumbent councillor since 2016[16]
Neelu Jennings Greens [29]
Paki Maaka Independent
George Mackay Independent
Tim McNamara None

Harbour ward

The Harbour ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Tui Lewis Independent Incumbent deputy mayor[16]

As the only candidate, Lewis is re-elected unopposed.[28]

Wainuiomata ward

The Wainuiomata ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Keri Brown Labour Incumbent councillor[16]

As the only candidate, Brown is re-elected unopposed.[28]

At-large ward

Five councillors will be elected at-large to the city council.[1]

Candidate[19] Affiliation[b] Notes
Sherry Antony Independent
Brady Dyer Independent Incumbent councillor.[16] Also running for mayor.
Andrew Gavriel Independent
Jonathon Gilbert The Security Noticeboard
Semi Kuresa None
Suzanne Levy Independent Member of Speak up for Women, Anti-Trans Group.[30]
Kath McGuinness Independent
Chris Paul Independent
Prabha Ravi Independent Previously ran for election as a councillor for the at-large ward in 2022. Also running for mayor.[26]
Tony Stallinger Independent Incumbent councillor[16]
Mele Tonga-Grant None
Karen (Kaz) Yung Independent Incumbent deputy chair of the Petone community board[27]

See also

Note

  1. ^
    • 3 members representing the city.
    • 1 member partially from the city in the Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori constituency.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h A candidate may leave their affiliation blank, run as an independent, or run with an affiliation to an organisation, local body ticket or political party. Hutt City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 Local Government Elections". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Elections". www.gw.govt.nz. Greater Wellington Regional Council. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Election information". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Representation arrangements". www.gw.govt.nz. Greater Wellington Regional Council. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  5. ^ Boyack, Nicholas (15 July 2024). "Scrap likely over move to get rid of Hutt community boards". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  6. ^ Wong, Justin (10 September 2024). "Hutt City Council gets rid of community boards". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  7. ^ Wong, Justin (24 January 2025). "Commission reinstates two Lower Hutt community boards". The Post. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Determination of representation arrangements to apply for the election of the Hutt City Council to be held on 11 October 2025" (PDF). www.lgc.govt.nz. Local Government Commission. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  9. ^ Perry, James (22 November 2023). "Hutt City Council votes to establish Māori ward". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  10. ^ Boyack, Nicholas (6 September 2024). "Emotional scenes as Hutt City endorses Māori ward". The Post. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Māori ward referendum". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  12. ^ James, Nick (30 May 2025). "Hutt and Porirua councils put Wellington super city back on the table". RNZ. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  13. ^ Afemata, Mary (2 June 2025). "Porirua residents to decide on super-council, Pacific leaders urge protection of local representation". RNZ. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry calling it quits at next election". RNZ. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  15. ^ Ridout, Amy (10 April 2025). "Lower Hutt mayor won't stand for re-election". Stuff. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Councillors". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  17. ^ "Election countdown: Bad week, shingles and a Wikipedia ban". The Post. 12 July 2025. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  18. ^ Afemata, Mary (8 July 2025). "Gabriel Tupou pushes for Pacific voices in regional politics". Pacific Media Network. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 Triennial Elections | Hutt City Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  20. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook". hccpublicdocs.azurewebsites.net. Hutt City Council. p. 16. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  21. ^ Wong, Justin (14 April 2025). "Lower Hutt councillor announces mayoral campaign". The Post. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  22. ^ a b c d James, Nick (30 July 2025). "The contenders for mayor of Lower Hutt". RNZ. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  23. ^ "League veteran and councillor Ken Laban to run for Lower Hutt mayor". RNZ. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  24. ^ Afemata, Mary (1 July 2025). "Fauono Ken Laban: First Pacific candidate for Lower Hutt city race". Pacific Media Network. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  25. ^ Wong, Justin (13 March 2025). "Hutt City Councillor, former Taita College principal runs for mayor". The Post. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  26. ^ a b Wong, Justin (13 May 2025). "Indian dance school founder runs for Lower Hutt mayor". The Post. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  27. ^ a b "Community Boards". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  28. ^ a b c d Wong, Justin (4 August 2025). "Almost half of Lower Hutt's councillors elected unopposed". The Post. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  29. ^ "Neelu Jennings". www.greens.org.nz. Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  30. ^ "Hutt council candidate wants tighter control of spending". Speak Up For Women (SUFW). Scoop. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
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