2025 Dunedin City Council election
Elections in New Zealand
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The 2025 Dunedin City Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Dunedin, New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.
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11 October 2025
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| Turnout | 43,295 (45.39%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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14 seats on the Dunedin City Council 8 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Voters elected the mayor of Dunedin and 14 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Dunedin City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote system were used.
Councillor Sophie Barker won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Jules Radich.
Key dates
- 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates opened
- 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates closed at 12 pm
- 9 September 2025: Voting documents were posted and voting opened
- 11 October 2025: Voting closed at 12 pm and progress/preliminary results were published
- 16–19 October 2025: Final results were declared.[1][2]
Background
Positions up for election
Voters in the city elected the mayor of Dunedin, 14 city councillors at-large, the members of six community boards,[a] and the members of the Oamaru Licensing Trust.[3][1] They also elected 7 members of the Otago Regional Council.[b][2]
Campaign
Debates
On 17 June 2025, Dunedin climate advocate Bruce Mahalski held a public meeting for DCC council and mayoral candidates to field questions on climate change issues including a commercial train service, the city's Zero Carbon Plan 2030, and relations between the DCC and Otago Regional Council (ORC). Mayoral candidates Cr Sophie Barker and Andrew Simms, and city council candidates Cr Marie Laufiso, Cr Jim O'Malley and Lily Warring spoke at the meeting, which was attended by 50 people.[4]
Issues
One key election issue has been the proposed landfill site at Smooth Hill. While the incumbent Mayor Jules Radich has supported the Smooth Hill landfill site, mayoral candidate Andrew Simms and his Future Dunedin ticket have opposed the new landfill site.[5]
On 23 September, 15 left-wing DCC and ORC candidates established an alternative progressive alliance called "The People's Hub" to advocate on shared values such as climate action, social justice, traffic speed reductions and reviving passenger trains. The group consisted of candidates from the Labour, Green parties, the Radical Action Faction and Building Kotahitaka including Cr Steve Walker, Cr Marie Laufiso, Cr Alan Somerville and ORC candidate Alex King. The group established a hub at the corner of George Street and Moray Place in Dunedin to promote their causes and encourage people to vote.[6]
List of candidates
Incumbents not seeking re-election
- David Benson-Pope, incumbent councillor since 2013[7][8]
Mayor
Incumbent mayor Jules Radich would stand again as an independent candidate.[9] Other independent candidates included councillors Sophie Barker, Carmen Houlahan, Mandy Mayhem, and Lee Vandervis.[10] Candidates that stood under a ticket were Marie Laufiso as the Building Kotahitaka candidate,[11] Andrew Simms as the Future Dunedin candidate and Mickey Treadwell as the Green candidate.[12][13]
Endorsements
In mid June 2025, former Team Dunedin councillors Andrew Whiley and Kevin Gilbert endorsed Sophie Barker as mayoral candidate.[14]
Councillors
Fourteen councillors were elected at-large to the city council.[3]
| Candidate[10] | Affiliation[c] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Acklin | Independent | Incumbent councillor[16][17] | |
| Lachlan Akers | None | ||
| Lync Aronson | Independent-Fully Funded City Council | Also ran for mayor | |
| Sophie Barker | Independent – working for you | Incumbent councillor.[17] Also ran for mayor. | |
| Tony Bennett | None | ||
| Rachel Brazil | Independent | Lawyer.[18] Was previously affiliated with the Future Dunedin ticket but withdrew on 20 August after facing criticism for sharing a leaked confidential report about DCC chief executive Sandy Graham.[19] | |
| Heike Cebulla-Elder | None | High School teacher[20] | |
| John Chambers | Your Health Candidate | Former head of the emergency department at Dunedin Hospital[21] | |
| Sarah Davie-Nitis | Independent | ||
| Cyndee Elder | Building Kotahitaka | Creator of Able Abodes, a tiny home project.[22] | |
| Rose Finnie | Green | Support worker[13] | |
| Jo Galer | Independent | Leader of the Southern Heritage Trust and Otago Regional Council communications professional[23] She left the Future Dunedin ticket to stand as an independent candidate in late August 2025 following disagreements with the leadership.[24] | |
| Christine Garey | Independent | Incumbent councillor[16][17] | |
| Kevin Gilbert | Independent | Incumbent councillor[17] | |
| Jett Groshinski | Labour | Otago University Students' Association politics representative and 2022 mayoral and local council candidate[25][16] | |
| Doug Hall | None | Also ran for mayor | |
| Robert Hamlin | Independent | University of Otago Business School lecturer. Was previously running under the Future Dunedin ticket until he was removed after he circulated an email criticising the use of karakia (Māori prayers) at university meetings.[26] | |
| Karl Hart | None | ||
| Jarrod Hodson | Future Dunedin | West Harbour community board member[27] and commercial manager[18][23] | |
| Carmen Houlahan | Independent | Incumbent councillor.[16][17] Also ran for mayor. | |
| Marita Johnson | Independent | Previously stood for council in 2022[28] | |
| Anthony Kenny | ACT Local | Former Royal New Zealand Navy serviceman[29][30] | |
| Anna Knight | Building Kotahitaka | ||
| Richard Knights | Independent | ||
| Marie Laufiso | Building Kotahitaka | Incumbent councillor.[17] Also ran for mayor. | |
| Cherry Lucas | Independent | Deputy mayor and incumbent city councillor[16][17] | |
| Russell Lund | Independent | ||
| Lianna MacFarlane | Independent | Also ran for mayor | |
| Mandy Mayhem | None | Incumbent councillor.[17] Also ran for mayor.[31][16] | |
| David Milne | Independent | Also ran for mayor. | |
| Jim O'Malley | Independent | Incumbent councillor[17] | |
| Hugh "Captain" O'Neill | Independent | ||
| Jen Olsen | The Radical Action Faction | ||
| Benedict Ong | None | Also ran for mayor | |
| Marian Poole | None | ||
| Paul Pope | Independent | Incumbent chair of the Otago Peninsula community board[32] | |
| Bruce Ranga | Future Dunedin | Former CEO of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council and member of the Te Pae Oranga Iwi Community Panel[23] | |
| Evelyn Robertson | Independent | Events Lead Dunedin Pride [33] | |
| Daniel Rooney | None | ||
| Andrew Simms | Future Dunedin | Businessman, Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chairman and founder of Future Dunedin. Also ran for mayor.[18] | |
| Conrad Stedman | Future Dunedin | Former city councillor[18][23] | |
| Andrew Sutton | Future Dunedin | President of Taieri Cricket Club and school boards chairperson[23] | |
| Amy Taylor | Future Dunedin | Volunteer and disability advocate[18][23] | |
| Pamela Taylor | Independent | Previously ran for council and for the mayoralty in 2022.[34] Also ran for mayor. | |
| Sue Todd | Independent | ||
| Mickey Treadwell | Green | Video game programmer and part-time lecturer.[13] Also ran for mayor. | |
| Rebecca Twemlow | Future Dunedin | Director of Business South and former Vice President of the Otago Chamber of Commerce[18][23] | |
| Lee Vandervis | Independent | Incumbent councillor.[17] Also ran for mayor.[31][16] | |
| Steve Walker | Labour | Incumbent councillor[25][16][17] | |
| Lily Warring | Green | Visual designer[13] | |
| Brent Weatherall | None | Incumbent councillor since 2022[17] | |
| Andrew Whiley | Independent | Incumbent councillor[16][17] | |
| Paul Williams | None | ||
Results
Summary
| Affiliation | Councillors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary vote | % | +/− | # | +/− | ||
| Independent | 24,818 | 57.22 | 10 | 0 | ||
| Future Dunedin | 10,364 | 23.90 | +23.90 | 1 | +1 | |
| Building Kotahitaka | 2,578 | 5.94 | +5.94 | 1 | +1 | |
| Green | 2,216 | 5.11 | 1 | +1 | ||
| Labour | 1,950 | 4.50 | 1 | 0 | ||
| ACT Local | 273 | 0.63 | +0.63 | 0 | 0 | |
| The Radical Action Faction | 172 | 0.40 | +0.40 | 0 | 0 | |
| Informal | 579 | 1.33 | ||||
| Blank | 423 | 0.98 | ||||
| Turnout | 43,373 | |||||
| Registered | ||||||
| No majority | ||||||
| Independent gains mayoralty from Team Dunedin | ||||||
Composition
| Position | Previous | Elected | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Jules Radich | Sophie Barker | ||
| Councillors | Bill Acklin | John Chambers | ||
| Sophie Barker | Christine Garey | |||
| David Benson-PopeR | Doug Hall | |||
| Christine Garey | Marie Laufiso | |||
| Kevin Gilbert | Cherry Lucas | |||
| Carmen Houlihan | Russell Lund | |||
| Marie Laufiso | Mandy Mayhem | |||
| Cherry Lucas | Benedict Ong | |||
| Mandy Mayhem | Jules Radich | |||
| Jim O'Malley | Andrew Simms | |||
| Lee Vandervis | Mickey Treadwell | |||
| Steve Walker | Lee Vandervis | |||
| Brent Weatherall | Steve Walker | |||
| Andrew Whiley | Brent Weatherall | |||
| R retired | ||||
Mayor
Councillor Sophie Barker was confirmed as mayor, with Andrew Simms coming in second place. Incumbent mayor Jules Radich came in fourth place, behind councillor Lee Vandervis.[36]
| Affiliation | Candidate | Primary vote | % | Iteration vote | Final % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Sophie Barker | 10,382 | 23.98 | #15 | 16,874 | 51.37 | |
| Future Dunedin | Andrew Simms | 11,377 | 26.28 | #15 | 15,976 | 48.63 | |
| Independent | Lee Vandervis | 7,234 | 16.71 | #14 | 8,739 | ||
| Independent | Jules Radich† | 3,485 | 8.05 | #13 | 4,174 | ||
| Building Kotahitaka | Marie Laufiso | 2,437 | 5.63 | #12 | 4,001 | ||
| Green | Mickey Treadwell | 1,967 | 4.54 | #11 | 2,491 | ||
| Independent | Mandy Mayhem | 1,259 | 2.91 | #10 | 1,480 | ||
| Independent | Benedict Ong | 947 | 2.19 | #9 | 1,248 | ||
| Independent | Carmen Houlahan | 758 | 1.75 | #8 | 1,017 | ||
| Independent | Doug Hall | 675 | 1.56 | #7 | 797 | ||
| Independent | Lync Aronson | 657 | 1.52 | #6 | 739 | ||
| Independent | Lianna MacFarlane | 422 | 0.97 | #5 | 497 | ||
| Independent | David Milne | 344 | 0.79 | #4 | 360 | ||
| The Radical Action Faction | Ruthven Allimrac | 296 | 0.68 | #3 | 314 | ||
| Independent | Pamela Taylor | 149 | 0.34 | #2 | 149 | ||
| Silly Hat Party | Flynn Nisbett | 73 | 0.17 | #1 | 73 | ||
| Quota | 21,231 | 49.04 | #15 | 16,425 | 50.00 | ||
| Informal | 106 | 0.24 | |||||
| Blank | 727 | 1.68 | |||||
| Turnout | 43,295 | 45.39 | |||||
| Registered | 95,394 | ||||||
| Independent gain from Team Dunedin | |||||||
| † incumbent | |||||||
Council
| Affiliation | Candidate | Primary Vote | % | Iteration vote[d] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Future Dunedin | Andrew Simms | 7,540 | 17.38 | #1 | 7,549 | ||
| Independent | Lee Vandervis† | 6,461 | 14.90 | #1 | 6,461 | ||
| Building Kotahitaka | Marie Laufiso† | 2,410 | 5.56 | #2 | 2,916 | ||
| Independent | Jules Radich | 2,102 | 4.85 | #47 | 2,785 | ||
| Independent | John Chambers | 1,665 | 3.82 | #65 | 2,770 | ||
| Labour | Steve Walker | 1,618 | 3.73 | #69 | 2,733 | ||
| Independent | Mandy Mayhem† | 1,356 | 3.13 | #74 | 2,664 | ||
| Independent | Cherry Lucas† | 1,320 | 3.04 | #76 | 2,670 | ||
| Green | Mickey Treadwell | 1,299 | 2.99 | #76 | 2,656 | ||
| Independent | Christine Garey† | 1,236 | 2.85 | #77 | 2,658 | ||
| Independent | Russell Lund | 1,051 | 2.42 | #81 | 2,651 | ||
| Independent | Brent Weatherall | 941 | 2.17 | #81 | 2,596 | ||
| Independent | Benedict Ong | 891 | 2.05 | #84 | 2,592 | ||
| Independent | Doug Hall | 686 | 1.58 | #87 | 2,577 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Bruce Ranga | 443 | 1.02 | #87 | 2,372 | ||
| Independent | Andrew Whiley† | 691 | 1.59 | #78 | 1,739 | ||
| Independent | Bill Acklin† | 607 | 1.40 | #75 | 1,563 | ||
| Independent | Carmen Houlahan† | 605 | 1.39 | #71 | 1,438 | ||
| Independent | Lync Aronson | 578 | 1.33 | #68 | 1,270 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Rachel Brazil | 562 | 1.30 | #66 | 1,174 | ||
| Independent | Paul Pope | 558 | 1.29 | #64 | 1,025 | ||
| Independent | Jim O'Malley† | 530 | 1.22 | #62 | 914 | ||
| Green | Lily Warring | 468 | 1.08 | #60 | 876 | ||
| Green | Rose Finnie | 449 | 1.04 | #58 | 813 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Conrad Stedman | 417 | 0.96 | #56 | 781 | ||
| Independent | Richard Knights | 415 | 0.96 | #54 | 726 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Jo Galer | 406 | 0.94 | #52 | 644 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Rebecca Twemlow | 346 | 0.80 | #50 | 613 | ||
| Labour | Jett Groshinski | 332 | 0.77 | #48 | 570 | ||
| Independent | Lianna MacFarlane | 322 | 0.74 | #46 | 537 | ||
| Independent | Sarah Davie-Nitis | 296 | 0.68 | #44 | 509 | ||
| Independent | Kevin Gilbert† | 292 | 0.67 | #42 | 468 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Jarrod Hodson | 283 | 0.65 | #40 | 451 | ||
| ACT Local | Anthony Kenny | 273 | 0.63 | #38 | 429 | ||
| Independent | Heike Cebulla-Elder | 243 | 0.56 | #36 | 402 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Andrew Sutton | 236 | 0.54 | #34 | 311 | ||
| Independent | Paul Williams | 227 | 0.52 | #33 | 305 | ||
| Independent | Tony Bennett | 218 | 0.50 | #30 | 298 | ||
| Independent | Lachlan Akers | 207 | 0.48 | #27 | 281 | ||
| Independent | David Milne | 184 | 0.42 | #25 | 278 | ||
| The Radical Action Faction | Jen Olsen | 172 | 0.40 | #22 | 267 | ||
| Independent | Daniel Rooney | 164 | 0.38 | #20 | 259 | ||
| Independent | Robert Hamlin | 162 | 0.37 | #18 | 234 | ||
| Independent | Hugh O'Neill | 160 | 0.37 | #16 | 231 | ||
| Independent | Sue Todd | 155 | 0.36 | #14 | 210 | ||
| Future Dunedin | Amy Taylor | 131 | 0.30 | #13 | 187 | ||
| Independent | Pamela Taylor | 116 | 0.27 | #12 | 184 | ||
| Building Kotahitaka | Anna Knight | 108 | 0.25 | #11 | 115 | ||
| Independent | Evelyn Robertson | 72 | 0.17 | #10 | 78 | ||
| Independent | Marian Poole | 47 | 0.11 | #9 | 68 | ||
| Building Kotahitaka | Cyndee Elder | 60 | 0.14 | #8 | 67 | ||
| Independent | Marita Johnson | 47 | 0.11 | #5 | 53 | ||
| Independent | Karl Hart | 14 | 0.03 | #4 | 19 | ||
| Independent | Sophie Barker† | withdrawn (elected mayor) | |||||
| Quota | 2,813 | 6.49 | #87 | 2,563 | |||
| Informal | 579 | 1.33 | |||||
| Blank | 423 | 0.98 | |||||
| Turnout | 43,373 | ||||||
| Registered | |||||||
| Future Dunedin gain from Independent | |||||||
| Independent hold | |||||||
| Building Kotahitaka gain from Independent[e] | |||||||
| Independent gain from Independent | |||||||
| Independent gain from Independent | |||||||
| Labour hold | |||||||
| Independent hold | |||||||
| Independent hold | |||||||
| Green gain from Independent | |||||||
| Independent hold | |||||||
| Independent gain from Independent | |||||||
| Independent gain from Team Dunedin[e] | |||||||
| Independent gain from Team Dunedin | |||||||
| Independent gain from Team Dunedin | |||||||
| † incumbent | |||||||
Aftermath
Following the death of Cr and former Mayor Jules Radich, the Dunedin City Council announced that a by-election would be held on 12 May 2026.[37]
See also
Notes
- Strath Taieri, Waikouaiti Coast, Mosgiel-Taieri, Saddle Hill, West Harbour, and Otago Peninsula.
- 5 councillors representing the city exclusively.
- 2 councillors representing parts of the city and parts of neighbouring Clutha District.
- 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.[15]
- Rounded to nearest whole number
- Incumbent changed affiliation