2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election

2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Mayoral election
Mayor before election

Glyn Lewers
Independent

Elected mayor

TBD

Council election
All 11 ward seats on the Queenstown-Lakes District Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 11
Popular vote share of elected councillors by ward

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

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 district will elect the mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, 11 district councillors in 3 wards, and the members of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board.[2] They will also elect several members to the Otago Regional Council.[a][3][4]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

  • Esther Whitehead, councillor for the Queenstown-Whakatipu ward[5][6][7]

Mayor

Candidate[8] Affiliation[b] Notes
Al Angus None Previously ran for mayor in 2022[10]
John Glover None Hotel owner.[11] Ran in the 2023 Arrowtown-Kawarau by-election.
Nik Kiddle Independent Mayoral candidate in 2019[12]
Glyn Lewers None Incumbent mayor since 2022[6][7]
Darren Rewi None Chair of Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust[13][14]
Daniel Shand Independent (Direct Democracy) Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022[15]

Councillors

Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward

Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward will return four councillors to the district council.[2]

Candidate[8] Affiliation[b] Notes
Gavin Bartlett None Incumbent councillor[6][7]
Stephen Brent None Lawyer and chair of 45South Community Foundation[16]
Aaron Cowie Independent [17]
Craig "Ferg" Ferguson None Incumbent councillor[7]
Jon Mitchell Independent Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022[18]
Rene Smith None
Matt Wong Independent Incumbent councillor[7]

Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward

Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward will return four councillors to the district council.[2]

Candidate[8] Affiliation[b] Notes
Barry Bruce None Incumbent councillor[6][7]
Lyal Cocks None Incumbent councillor[6][7]
Craig Gasson None [19]
Niki Gladding Independent Incumbent councillor for the Queenstown-Whakatipu ward[20][7]
Nicola King None
Yeverley McCarthy None
Quentin Smith None Incumbent deputy mayor[6][7]
Cody Tucker None Incumbent councillor[6][7]
Thorsk G Westphal None

Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward

Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward will return three councillors to the district council.[2]

Candidate[8] Affiliation[b] Notes
"Q" (Samuel) Belk None
Heath Copland None Previously ran for council in 2019[21]
Lisa Guy None Incumbent councillor[6][7]
Tim Manning None
Melissa White None Incumbent councillor[6][7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Four members in the Dunstan general constituency.
  2. ^ a b c d 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. Queenstown-Lakes District Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Elections". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Voting". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Dunstan awarded extra regional councillor by Local Government Commission". Otago Regional Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Determination of representation arrangements to apply for the election of the Otago Regional Council to be held on 11 October 2025" (PDF). Local Government Commission. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  5. ^ Newport, Peter (28 June 2024). "Esther Whitehead: Why I won't stand for council again". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Newport, Peter (17 June 2025). "Quentin Smith considers QLDC mayoralty, other councillors declare their intentions". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Elected Members". www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "2025 Triennial Elections | Queenstown Lakes District Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown-Lakes District Council. p. 15. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. ^ Wards, Sue (11 July 2022). "Al Angus to stand for mayor again". The Wānaka App. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  11. ^ "John Glover enters mayoral race with "hard reset" of QLDC". Crux. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Nik Kiddle to contest mayoralty". The Wānaka App. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  13. ^ Taylor, Paul (9 July 2025). "Rewi steps forward". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  14. ^ Rewi, Darren (9 July 2025). "Darren Rewi enters QLDC mayoral race". Crux. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  15. ^ Jamieson, Debbie (2 September 2022). "The Queenstown Lakes mayoral race: Who will replace Jim Boult?". Stuff. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  16. ^ Chandler, Philip (29 June 2025). "Lawyer puts hat in the ring". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  17. ^ "QLDC candidate statement from Aaron Cowie". Crux. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  18. ^ Roxburgh, Tracey (13 April 2022). "Mitchell running for mayor as independent". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Wānaka's Craig Gasson to run for council". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  20. ^ Newport, Peter (29 July 2025). "Niki Gladding to stand again for the QLDC". Crux. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  21. ^ Hudson, Daisy (3 July 2019). "Accountant to run for Arrowtown seat on QLDC". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
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