2025 Dunedin mayoral election
New Zealand local election
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The 2025 Dunedin mayoral election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Dunedin, New Zealand, as part of that year's city council election and nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Dunedin for the 2025–2028 term of the Dunedin City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote system were used.
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11 October 2025
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| Turnout | 43,300 (45.72%  4.18 pp)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.[2][3]
Background
Electoral system
The election was held using the Single Transferable Vote system.[4] Voting took place by post and through the returning of completed voting papers to ballot boxes.[5]
Campaign
One key election issue was the proposed landfill site at Smooth Hill. While the incumbent Mayor Jules Radich supported the Smooth Hill landfill site, mayoral candidate Andrew Simms and his Future Dunedin ticket opposed the new landfill site and campaigned on reversing the Council's decision to acquire the site for rubbish disposal.[6]
List of candidates
Declared candidates
| Candidate[7] | Photo | Affiliation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lync Aronson | Independent-Fully Funded City Council | Also ran for council[8] | ||
| Sophie Barker | Independent – working for you | City councillor since 2019, and former deputy mayor (2022–2023).[9] Previously ran for mayor in 2022.[10][8] Also ran for re-election as a councillor. | ||
| Doug Hall | None | Also ran for council[8] | ||
| Carmen Houlahan | Independent | City councillor since 2019.[11] Previously ran for mayor in 2022.[10][8] Also ran for re-election as a councillor. | ||
| Marie Laufiso | .png) |
Building Kotahitaka | Incumbent councillor since 2016.[8][12] Also ran for re-election as a councillor. | |
| Lianna MacFarlane | Independent | Hypnotherapist and life coach.[8] Also ran to be a councillor. | ||
| Mandy Mayhem | .jpg) |
None | City councillor since 2022.[13][8] Previously ran for mayor in 2022.[10] Also ran for re-election as a councillor. | |
| David Milne | None | Previously ran for mayor in 2022.[10][8] Also ran for council. | ||
| Flynn "Nisvett" Nisbett | .jpg) |
Aotearoa New Zealand Silly Hat Party | Leader (king), Aotearoa New Zealand Silly Hat Party.[14][8] Joke party candidate. | |
| Benedict Ong | None | Former international banker.[8] Also ran to be a councillor. | ||
| Jules Radich | .jpg) |
Incumbent mayor since 2022[15][16] | ||
| Zenith Rose-Wills (aka Ruthven Allimrac) |
The Radical Action Faction | Climate activist[8] and "vampire"[17] | ||
| Andrew Simms | .jpg) |
Future Dunedin | Businessman, Mosgiel-Taieri Community board chair, and leader of the Future Dunedin ticket.[15][18] Also ran for council. | |
| Pamela Taylor | Independent | Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022.[19][8] Also ran to be a councillor. | ||
| Mickey Treadwell | Green | Video game programmer and part-time lecturer.[20][8] Also ran to be a councillor. | ||
| Lee Vandervis | Independent | City councillor since 2004 and perennial candidate.[13][8] Previously ran for mayor in 2022.[10] Also ran for re-election as a councillor. | ||
Endorsements
On 17 June 2025, former Team Dunedin Councillors Andrew Whiley and Kevin Gilbert endorsed Sophie Barker as mayoral candidate. They along with fellow Team Dunedin councillor Brent Weatherall declined to endorse Jules Radich for a second term as Mayor of Dunedin.[21]
Results
When progress results were released on the afternoon after voting closed, it was clear that Dunedin would get a new mayor, but it was unclear who that was going to be. Radich, the incumbent, had come fourth. Sophie Barker had a slim margin of 105 votes over Andrew Simms, with Lee Vandervis in third place.[22]
With the release of the preliminary results Sophie Barker was confirmed as the winner, having a clear lead of 726 votes over Andrew Simms. Final results increased this to 898.[23][24]
| Party | Candidate | Primary votes | % | ±% | Iteration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Votes | ||||||
| Independent | Sophie Barker | 10,382 | 23.98 | +8.72 | 15th | 16,874 | |
| Future Dunedin | Andrew Simms | 11,377 | 26.27 | (new) | 15th | 15,976 | |
| Independent | Lee Vandervis | 7,234 | 16.71 | +4.29 | 14th | 8,739 | |
| Independent | Jules Radich† | 3,485 | 8.05 | −27.65 | 13th | 4,174 | |
| Building Kotahitaka | Marie Laufiso | 2,437 | 5.63 | (new) | 12th | 4,001 | |
| Green | Mickey Treadwell | 1,967 | 4.54 | (new) | 11th | 2,491 | |
| Independent | Mandy Mayhem | 1,259 | 2.91 | +0.66 | 10th | 1,480 | |
| Independent | Benedict Ong | 947 | 2.19 | (new) | 9th | 1,248 | |
| Independent | Carmen Houlahan | 758 | 1.75 | −1.54 | 8th | 1,017 | |
| Independent | Doug Hall | 675 | 1.56 | (new) | 7th | 797 | |
| Independent | Lync Aronson | 657 | 1.52 | (new) | 6th | 739 | |
| Independent | Lianna MacFarlane | 422 | 0.97 | (new) | 5th | 497 | |
| Independent | David Milne | 344 | 0.79 | −1.47 | 4th | 360 | |
| Radical Action | Ruthven Allimrac | 296 | 0.68 | (new) | 3rd | 314 | |
| Independent | Pamela Taylor | 149 | 0.34 | −0.35 | 2nd | 149 | |
| Silly Hat | Flynn (Nisvett) Nisbett | 73 | 0.17 | (new) | 1st | 73 | |
| Quota | 21,231 | 49.03 | −0.12 | ||||
| Informal votes | 106 | 0.24 | +0.02 | ||||
| Blank votes | 727 | 1.68 | +0.85 | ||||
| Turnout | 43,300 | 45.72 | −4.18 | ||||
| Registered electors | 94,717 | ||||||
| Independent gain from Team Dunedin on 15th iteration | |||||||
| † incumbent | |||||||
