2025 Palmerston North City Council election

2025 Palmerston North City Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Mayoral election
Mayor before election

Grant Smith
Independent

Elected mayor

TBD

Council election
All 15 ward seats on the Palmerston North City Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 12
  Green 2
  Labour 1
First preference vote share of elected councillors by ward

The 2025 Palmerston North City Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Palmerston North, New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Palmerston North and 15 city councillors for the 2025–2028 term of the Palmerston North City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote 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][2]

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the city will elect the mayor of Palmerston North and 15 city councillors in 2 wards. They will also elect several members of the Horizons Regional Council.[a][2][3]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

  • Pat Handcock, councillor since 2019[4]

Mayor

Candidate[5] Affiliation[b] Notes
Orphée Mickalad Independent Councillor for the Te Hirawanui general ward since 2021.[7][8] Also running for re-election as a councillor.
Michael Morris None Environmental scientist and vegan[9]
Caleb Riddick Independent Also running for council in the general ward
Grant Smith Independent Incumbent mayor since 2015[10][8]

Councillors

Te Pūao Māori ward

Te Pūao Māori ward will return two councillors to the city council.[11]

Candidate[5] Affiliation[b] Notes
Rowland Prince Fitzgerald None Incumbent councillor since 2022[12][8]
Bonnie Kuru None
Debbie Marshall-Lobb Te Pāti Māori Incumbent deputy mayor and councillor since 2022[12][8]

Te Hirawanui general ward

Te Hirawanui general ward will return thirteen councillors to the city council.[11]

Candidate[5] Affiliation[b] Notes
Wajeha Akbaryan Independent
Mark Arnott None Incumbent councillor[8]
Brent Barrett Green Incumbent councillor since 2016[13][8]
Rachel Bowen None Incumbent councillor[8]
Melanie Butler Independent Previously ran for council in 2022.[14]
Zulfiqar Butt Labour Former city councillor from 2019–2022[15]
Vaughan Dennison Independent Incumbent councillor since 2001[16][8]
Kayne John Dunlop None
Lew Findlay Independent Incumbent councillor[8]
Hayden Fitzgerald Independent
Mark Gunning Independent
Leonie Hapeta None Incumbent councillor[8]
Nelson Harper Independent Chief executive of Precycle NZ[17]
Jeremy Craig Hoskins None
Cameron Jenkins Independent
Lorna Johnson Labour Incumbent councillor since 2016[15][8]
Eric Judd Independent
Jack Koh None
Quintin McGregor None
Billy Meehan Independent Incumbent councillor[8]
Orphée Mickalad Independent Incumbent councillor.[8] Also running for mayor.
Tobias Wilson Nash None
Karen Naylor Independent Incumbent councillor[8]
Adrian Phillips None
Eldhose Poovathumveettil Mathew Independent
Dave Poppelwell Independent Previously ran for council in 2013.[18]
Atif Rahim None Founder of hearing aid charity Hearing for Hope.[19] Previously ran for council in 2022.[14]
Caleb Riddick Independent Also running for mayor
Zakk Rokkanno Independent Previously stood for council in 2022[14][20]
Dave Salisbury Independent
Michael Paul Strachan None
Jackie Wheeler Independent Organiser of Palmerston North Residents group.[21]
Glen Williams ACT Local Business owner[22][23]
Verne Wilson Independent
William George Wood None Incumbent councillor[8]
Richard Woolgar Independent
Kaydee Zabelin Green Incumbent councillor since 2022[13][8]

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    • 4 members from the city.
    • 1 member partially from the city in the Tonga Māori constituency.
  2. ^ a b c 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. Palmerston North City Council does not allow election slogans to be used for the affiliation.[6]

References

  1. ^ "2025 Elections". www.pncc.govt.nz. Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Elections 2025". www.horizons.govt.nz. Horizons Regional Council. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  3. ^ "He Arotake Kanohitanga | Representation Review". www.horizons.govt.nz. Horizons Regional Council. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Pat Handcock bows out, rues 'unpleasant' state of local body politics". Manawatū Standard. The Post. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Your candidates". www.pncc.govt.nz. Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  6. ^ "PUKA ARATOHU KAITONO 2025 | 2025 CANDIDATE INFORMATION HANDBOOK" (PDF). www.pncc.govt.nz. Palmerston North City Council. p. 13. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  7. ^ Rankin, Janine (17 May 2025). "Orphée Mickalad stands for Palmerston North mayoralty". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Elected members". www.pncc.govt.nz. Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  9. ^ Morris, Michael (27 July 2025). "Dr Michael Morris, Mayoral Candidate For Papaioea (Palmerston North)" (Press release). Scoop. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  10. ^ Rankin, Janine (16 June 2025). "Grant Smith to stand for another term as mayor". The Post. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  11. ^ a b "How we elect our Council". www.pncc.govt.nz. Palmerston North City Council. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  12. ^ a b Rankin, Janine (1 July 2025). "Palmerston North's deputy mayor seeks re-election". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Greens back Barrett, Zabelin for re-election to city council". Manawatū Standard. 26 May 2025.
  14. ^ a b c Lacy, Judith (23 August 2022). "Who is backing the PNCC candidates?". Manawatū Guardian. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  15. ^ a b Rankin, Janine (24 February 2025). "Labour endorses Lorna Johnson, Zulfiqar Butt for local body election". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  16. ^ Rankin, Janine (5 July 2025). "Veteran councillor Vaughan Dennison stands again". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  17. ^ Rankin, Janine (2 July 2025). "Recycling technician Nelson Harper stands for city council". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Six in mayoral race". Stuff. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  19. ^ Lacy, Judith (15 July 2022). "Three 'ears for donation milestone". Manawatū Guardian. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  20. ^ Carter, Ben (16 September 2022). "Local Focus: Zakk Rokkanno on Candidate Camera". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  21. ^ Janine Rankin (30 September 2024). "'You can't just complain': Residents group meeting seeks positive change". Stuff. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  22. ^ ACT New Zealand (22 July 2025). "Local Business Owner, Glen Williams, Selected As ACT Local Candidate For Palmerston North City Council" (Press release). Scoop. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  23. ^ Rankin, Janine (23 July 2023). "ACT Local names candidate for Palmerston North City Council". Manawatū Standard. The Post. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
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