2025 Nelson City Council election

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

Nick Smith
Independent

Elected mayor

TBD

Council election
All 12 ward seats on the Nelson City Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 11
  Nelson Citizens Alliance 1
First preference vote share of elected councillors by ward

The 2025 Nelson City Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Nelson, New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Nelson and 12 city councillors for the 2025–2028 term of the Nelson City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable voting system will be used.

The council introduced a Māori ward at the 2022 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]

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the city will elect the mayor of Nelson and 12 city councillors in 4 wards.

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Mayor

Candidate[5] Photo Affiliation[a] Notes
Richard Osmaston Money Free Party New Zealand Previously ran for the mayoralties of Westland, Grey, Buller, Marlborough, Nelson, and Tasman in 2022.[7][8] Concurrently running for the mayoralties of four other councils: Tasman, Buller, Grey and Westland.[9]
Nick Smith Independent Incumbent mayor since 2022[10][2][8]
Aaron Stallard Independent Incumbent councillor since 2022.[11][2] Also running for re-election as a councillor in the at-large ward.[12][8]
John Wakelin Lower Rates Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2019 and 2022[13][8]

Councillors

Whakatū Māori ward

Whakatū Māori ward will return one councillor to the city council.[14]

Candidate[5] Affiliation[a] Notes
Kahu Paki Paki None Incumbent councillor[2]

Central ward

The Central ward will return four councillors to the city council.[14]

Candidate[5] Photo Affiliation[a] Notes
Matty Anderson Independent Incumbent councillor[2]
Lisa Austin Let's Be Ready for Tomorrow – Today [15]
Lenny Blake None
Jackie Galland None
James Hodgson Independent Incumbent councillor[2]
Anton Hyman None
Marie Lindaya Weaving a Stronger Nelson for 2025
Sand McDougall Independent
David North None
Steph Phillips Independent
Pete Rainey Independent Incumbent councillor[2]
Tilman Ward Independent
Mike Ward None Previously ran for council in 2022[16]

Stoke-Tāhunanui ward

The Stoke-Tāhunanui ward will return four councillors to the city council.[14]

Candidate[5] Photo Affiliation[a] Notes
Trudie Brand None Incumbent councillor[2]
Guy Coulson None Scientist (air quality)[17]
Mel Courtney Independent Incumbent councillor[2]
Sarah Kerby Labour [18]
Paul Lacy None
Mike Nicholls Independent
Valmai Palatchie Independent [19]
Dan Robinson Independent
Campbell Rollo Independent Incumbent councillor[2]

At-large ward

Three councillors will be elected at-large to the city council.[14]

Candidate[5] Affiliation[a] Notes
Chris Baillie Independent Former ACT MP (2020–2023)[20]
Anne Michele Dickinson None
Susa Guhl Independent
Jeremy Matthews None
Keith Palmer None
Nigel Skeggs Independent
Tim Skinner None Incumbent councillor[2]
Aaron Stallard Independent Incumbent councillor since 2022. Also running for mayor.[12]
Graeme K Tyree Independent

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. Nelson City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[6]

References

  1. ^ "2025 Triennial Council Election". www.nelson.govt.nz. Nelson City Council. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Elected Members (Mayor and Councillors)". www.nelson.govt.nz. Nelson City Council. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  3. ^ Gee, Samantha (16 June 2025). "Nelson's deputy mayor Rohan O'Neill-Stevens to step down at next election". RNZ. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  4. ^ Townshend, Katie (16 June 2025). "Nelson deputy mayor won't seek re-election". The Press. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e "2025 Triennial Elections | Nelson City Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.nelson.govt.nz. Nelson City Council. p. 14. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Meet the Nelson man running to be the mayor of six councils". Stuff. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Townshend, Katie (1 August 2025). "In the running for Nelson mayor and council". Nelson Mail. The Press. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  9. ^ Nash, Joanne (5 August 2025). "Tough battles lie ahead for mayoral hopefuls". The Press. PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  10. ^ Townshend, Katie (15 February 2025). "Should I stand or should I go? Councillors weigh up election bid". The Press. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  11. ^ Frethey, Max (8 July 2025). "Councillor challenges Nick for mayor". NelsonApp. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  12. ^ a b Townshend, Katie (8 July 2025). "Aaron Stallard puts up hand for Nelson mayoralty". The Nelson Mail. The Press. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  13. ^ Gamble, Warren (21 September 2022). "NCC mayoral race: John Wakelin". Stuff. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d "Local Governance Statement 2022–2025" (PDF). www.nelson.govt.nz. Nelson City Council. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  15. ^ "Lisa Austin for Nelson City Council". lisaaustin4ncc.co.nz. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Candidates for the 2022 Nelson City Council local election announced". our.nelson.govt.nz. Nelson City Council. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  17. ^ Coulson, Guy (16 May 2022). "Why cutting greenhouse gases also improves our health". Stuff. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  18. ^ Frethey, Max (11 June 2025). "Labour runs Nelson council candidate". The Press. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Valmai for Nelson 2025". valmaipalatchie.co.nz. Valmai Palatchie. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  20. ^ Townshend, Katie (11 July 2025). "Former ACT MP standing for Nelson City Council as independent". The Nelson Mail. The Press. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.