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2025 Palmerston North City Council election

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The 2025 Palmerston North City Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Palmerston North, New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.

Quick facts Turnout, Candidate ...
2025 Palmerston North City Council election
← 2022
11 October 2025
2028 →
Turnout25,060 (42.13% Increase 5.40 pp)
Mayor
 
Ind
Candidate Grant Smith Orphée Mickalad Caleb Riddick
Party Independent Independent Independent
Primary vote 15,124 5,310 2,427
Percentage 60.35% 21.190% 9.68%
Mayor before election

Grant Smith
Independent

 Elected mayor

Grant Smith
Independent

Councillors
15 seats on the governing body of Palmerston North City Council
8 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/–
Independent 11 +1
Green 2 0
Labour 1 0
Te Pāti Māori 1 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Voters elected 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 were used.

Incumbent mayor Grant Smith won re-election to a fourth term.

The council introduced a Māori ward at the 2022 election; in a referendum on its future held at this election (as part of a nation-wide series of referendums) voters elected to keep the Māori ward.

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 results were published that afternoon
  • 12 October 2025: 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 Palmerston North and 15 city councillors in 2 wards. They also elected several members of the Horizons Regional Council.[a][2][3]

Campaign

A fence in Ashhurst, covered in campaign placards for various candidates

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

  • Pat Handcock, councillor since 2019[4]

Mayor

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

Te Pūao Māori ward

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

More information Candidate, Affiliation ...
Candidate[5] Affiliation[b] Notes
Rowland Prince Fitzgerald None Incumbent councillor since 2022[12][8]
Bonnie Kuru None
Debi Marshall-Lobb Te Pāti Māori Incumbent deputy mayor and councillor since 2022[12][8]
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Te Hirawanui general ward

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

More information Candidate, Affiliation ...
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 ran 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] New Conservatives Party parliamentary candidate in 2020.[19]
Atif Rahim None Founder of hearing aid charity Hearing for Hope.[20] Previously ran for council in 2022.[14]
Caleb Riddick Independent Also ran for mayor
Zakk Rokkanno Independent Previously stood for council in 2022[14][21]
Dave Salisbury Independent
Michael Paul Strachan None
Jackie Wheeler Independent Organiser of Palmerston North Residents group.[22]
Glen Williams ACT Local Business owner[23][24]
Verne Wilson Independent
William George Wood None Incumbent councillor[8]
Richard Woolgar Independent
Kaydee Zabelin Green Incumbent councillor since 2022[13][8]
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Results

Part of this section is transcluded from Results of the 2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections in Manawatū-Whanganui § Palmerston North City Council. (edit | history)

With the final results, the following candidates were declared elected:[25][26]

Mayor

Incumbent mayor Grant Smith won re-election to a fourth term.[27][28]

More information Party, Candidate ...
2025 Palmerston North mayoral election[29][30][31]
Party Candidate Primary votes % ±% Iteration
# Votes
Independent Grant Smith† 15,124 60.35 −15.67 1st 15,124
Independent Orphée Mickalad 5,310 21.19 (new) 1st 5,310
Independent Caleb Riddick 2,427 9.68 (new) 1st 2,427
Independent Michael Morris 1,121 4.47 (new) 1st 1,121
Quota 11,991 47.85 −0.25
Informal votes 101 0.40 +0.11
Blank votes 977 3.90 +0.35
Turnout 25,060 42.13 +5.40
Registered electors 59,478
Independent hold on 1st iteration
† incumbent
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Council

Te Hirawanui general ward

More information Party, Candidate ...
2025 Te Hirawanui general ward election[29][30][31]
Party Candidate Primary votes % ±% Iteration
# Votes
Independent William George Wood† 3,281 14.17 +4.81 1st 3,281
Independent Mark Arnott† 1,481 6.40 n/a 2nd 1,757
Independent Orphée Mickalad† 1,583 6.84 n/a 2nd 1,716
Independent Karen Naylor† 1,136 4.91 n/a 41st 1,613
Independent Rachel Bowen† 1,169 5.05 −2.36 44th 1,583
Independent Lew Findlay† 1,187 5.13 n/a 48th 1,605
Independent Vaughan Dennison† 1,023 4.42 n/a 50th 1,572
Green Brent Barrett† 1,196 5.16 −2.01 50th 1,563
Independent Hayden Fitzgerald 645 2.79 (new) 64th 1,800
Labour Lorna Johnson† 1,096 4.73 n/a 65th 1,528
Independent Billy Meehan† 604 2.61 n/a 66th 1,571
Independent Leonie Hapeta† 578 2.50 n/a 67th 1,518
Green Kaydee Jean Zabelin† 895 3.86 n/a 80th 1,492
Labour Zulfiqar Butt 837 3.61 n/a 80th 1,434
ACT Local Glen Williams 696 3.01 (new) 63th 1,201
Independent Jackie Wheeler 631 2.72 (new) 56th 1,051
Independent Mark Gunning 525 2.27 (new) 47th 795
Independent Caleb Riddick 512 2.21 (new) 45th 732
Independent Jeremy Craig Hoskins 475 2.05 (new) 42nd 584
Independent Verne Wilson 397 1.71 (new) 40th 530
Independent Nelson Harper 315 1.36 (new) 38th 438
Independent Wajeha Akbaryan 328 1.42 (new) 36th 422
Independent Richard Woolgar 226 0.98 (new) 31st 297
Independent Eldhose Poovathumveettil Mathew 201 0.87 (new) 30th 235
Independent Melanie Butler 150 0.65 n/a 29th 228
Independent Kayne John Dunlop 183 0.79 (new) 26th 219
Independent Dave Salisbury 149 0.64 (new) 22nd 204
Independent Tobias Wilson Nash 132 0.57 (new) 20th 175
Independent Cameron Jenkins 130 0.56 (new) 19th 141
Independent Dave Poppelwell 110 0.47 (new) 18th 134
Independent Quintin McGregor 115 0.50 (new) 16th 131
Independent Adrian Phillips 113 0.49 (new) 13th 121
Independent Eric Judd 90 0.39 (new) 11th 99
Independent Atif Rahim 93 0.40 n/a 10th 97
Independent Michael Paul Strachan 90 0.39 (new) 7th 95
Independent Jack Koh 78 0.34 (new) 4th 84
Independent Zakk Rokkanno 9 0.04 n/a 3rd 11
Quota 1,604 6.93 +0.00
Informal votes 477 2.06 −4.37
Blank votes 222 0.96 +0.44
Turnout 23,158 42.70 +4.10
Registered electors 54,228
Independent hold on 1st iteration
Independent hold on 2nd iteration
Independent hold on 2nd iteration
Independent hold on 41st iteration
Independent hold on 44th iteration
Independent hold on 48th iteration
Independent hold on 50th iteration
Green hold on 50th iteration
Independent gain from Independent on 64th iteration
Labour hold on 65th iteration
Independent hold on 66th iteration
Independent hold on 67th iteration
Independent hold on 80th iteration
† incumbent
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Te Pūao Māori ward

More information Party, Candidate ...
2025 Te Pūao Māori ward election[29][30][31]
Party Candidate Primary votes % ±% Iteration
# Votes
Te Pāti Māori Debi Marshall-Lobb† 1,087 57.15 n/a 1st 1,087
Independent Bonnie Kuru 547 28.76 (new) 2nd 803
Independent Rowland Prince Fitzgerald† 209 10.99 n/a 2nd 358
Quota 614 32.28 n/a
Informal votes 27 1.42 n/a
Blank votes 32 1.68 n/a
Turnout 1,902 36.23 n/a
Registered electors 5,250
Te Pāti Māori gain from Rangitāne o Manawatū on 1st iteration
Independent gain from Rangitāne o Manawatū on 2nd iteration
† incumbent
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Māori wards poll

More information Choice, Votes ...
ChoiceVotes%
I vote to KEEP Māori wards13,37355.51
I vote to REMOVE Māori wards10,71844.49
Total24,091100.00
Valid votes24,09196.13
Invalid/blank votes9693.87
Total votes25,060100.00
Source: [25]
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    • 4 members from the city.
    • 1 member partially from the city in the Tonga Māori constituency.
  2. [b]
    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

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