2025 Rotorua Lakes Council election
Elections in New Zealand
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The 2025 Rotorua Lakes Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in the Rotorua Lakes District of 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 | 21,796 (43.27%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mayoral election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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10 seats on the Rotorua Lakes Council 6 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 Rotorua and 10 district councillors for the 2025–2028 term of the Rotorua Lakes Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.
Incumbent mayor Tania Tapsell was re-elected to a second term in a landslide.
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/preliminary results published
- 16–19 October 2025: Final results declared.[1][2][3]
Background
Positions up for election
Voters in the district elected the mayor of Rotorua, 10 councillors from across 3 wards and members of the Rotorua Lakes and Rotorua Rural community boards. They also elected members of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council[a][2][4] and members of the Waikato Regional Council[b][3][5]
Campaign
List of candidates
Incumbents not seeking re-election
Mayor
| Candidate[9] | Photo | Affiliation[c] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haehaetu Barrett | None | Former chief executive of Lifewise, a social services organisation[11] | ||
| Takeina "Shakaina" Fraser | None | Also ran to be a councillor for the Te Ipu Wai Auraki general ward[11] | ||
| Robert Lee | Independent | Incumbent councillor for the general ward. Also ran for re-election as a councillor.[8][7][11] | ||
| Don Paterson | Saving Rotorua | Incumbent councillor.[7][11] Also ran for re-election as a councillor in the Te Ipu Wai Auraki general ward. | ||
| Tania Tapsell | .jpg) |
None | Incumbent mayor since 2022[6][7][11] | |
Councillors
Te Ipu Wai Taketake Māori ward
Te Ipu Wai Taketake Māori ward returned three councillors to the district council.[12][13]
| Candidate[9] | Affiliation[c] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trevor Horowaewae Maxwell | None | Incumbent councillor. Having been an elected councillor since 1977, he is New Zealand's longest-serving councillor.[8][7][11] | |
| Merepeka Raukawa-Tait | None | Former councillor[11] | |
| Harina Rinaha Rupapera | None | Scholar[11] | |
| Te Whatanui Skipwith | None | Former actor and advocate for the protection of Lake Rotokākahi[14][11] | |
| Te Rika Temara-Benfell | Te Pāti Māori | Community leader[11] | |
| Rawiri Waru | None | Incumbent councillor[8][7][11] | |
Te Ipu Wai Auraki general ward
Te Ipu Wai Auraki general ward returned six councillors to the district council.[12][13]
| Candidate[9] | Photo | Affiliation[c] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jared Adams | Independent | Former holiday park owner[11] | ||
| Philly Angus | None | [11] | ||
| Gregg Brown | None | Incumbent councillor.[7] Brown had initially indicated that he would step down,[6][8] but later changed his mind.[11][15] | ||
| Jenny Chapman | None | Teacher and community advocate[11] | ||
| Richard Collins | Think Positive | [11] | ||
| Brendan Davis | Your Voice on Council | Previously ran for council in 2022[16][11] | ||
| Mathew Doidge | None | Academic[11] | ||
| Takeina "Shakaina" Fraser | None | Also ran for mayor[11] | ||
| Frank "The Tank" Grapl | Revive and thrive Rotorua – Together | [11] | ||
| Ryan Gray | Moving Rotorua Forward | Previously ran for council in 2022[17][11] | ||
| Sandra Kai Fong | None | Incumbent deputy mayor[7][11] | ||
| Robert Lee | Independent | Incumbent councillor.[6][7] Also ran for mayor.[8][11] | ||
| Reynold John Macpherson | Residents and Ratepayers | Former councillor (2019–2022) and mayoral candidate in 2022[8][11] | ||
| Jason Monahan | None | Chef[11] | ||
| Mariana Morrison | None | Former naval officer,[11] The Bachelor New Zealand contestant and granddaughter of Howard Morrison.[8] | ||
| Pam Neilson | None | [8] | ||
| Conan O'Brien | Restore, Rebuild, and Reform | Incumbent councillor[8][7][11] | ||
| Don Paterson | Saving Rotorua | Incumbent councillor.[6][8][7] Also ran for mayor.[11] | ||
| Neville Raethel | Keep New Zealand Beautiful | Local environment and anti-litter activist[11] | ||
| Ben Sandford | .jpg) |
None | Two-time winter Olympian. Stood for mayor of Rotorua in 2022[18][11] | |
| Rahul Sethi | None | Entrepreneur[11] | ||
| Fisher Wang | Independent | Incumbent councillor[6][8][7][11] | ||
Rotorua Rural ward
The Rotorua Rural ward returned one councillor to the district council.[12][13]
As the only candidate, Barker was elected unopposed.[11][19]
Results
Overall turnout was 43.27%, with 21,796 voting papers returned,[20] down from 47.9% in the 2022 election and short of the council's goal of at least 50% turnout. Rotorua ranked 51st for turnout out of the 66 district and city councils taking part in these elections.[21]
With final results, the following candidates were declared elected:[20]
Mayor
Incumbent mayor Tania Tapsell was re-elected to a second term in a landslide.[22][23]
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Tania Tapsell† | 12,380 | 56.80 | |
| Independent | Don Paterson | 2,952 | 13.54 | |
| Independent | Robert Lee | 2,822 | 12.95 | |
| Independent | Haehaetu Barrett | 2,752 | 12.63 | |
| Independent | Takeina Fraser | 468 | 2.15 | |
| Informal | 35 | 0.16 | ||
| Blank | 386 | 1.77 | ||
| Turnout | 21,795 | 43.20 | ||
| Registered | 50,452 | |||
| Independent hold | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Council
Rural Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Karen Barker† | Unopposed | ||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Te Ipu Wai Auraki General Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Fisher Wang† | 7,199 | ||
| Independent | Sandra Kai Fong† | 6,915 | ||
| Independent | Ben Sandford | 6,686 | ||
| Independent | Gregg Brown† | 5,421 | ||
| Independent | Don Paterson† | 4,850 | ||
| Independent | Robert Lee† | 4,555 | ||
| Independent | Philly Angus | 4,298 | ||
| Independent | Conan O'Brien† | 4,282 | ||
| Independent | Ryan Gray | 4,259 | ||
| Independent | Jenny Chapman | 3,901 | ||
| Residents and Ratepayers | Reynold MacPherson | 3,851 | ||
| Independent | Brendan Davis | 3,379 | ||
| Independent | Jared Adams | 2,246 | ||
| Independent | Mathew Doidge | 2,104 | ||
| Independent | Pam Neilson | 2,067 | ||
| Independent | Mariana Morrison | 1,995 | ||
| Independent | Neville Raethel | 1,715 | ||
| Independent | Frank "The Tank" Grapl | 1,356 | ||
| Independent | Richard Collins | 1,306 | ||
| Independent | Rahul Sethi | 1,257 | ||
| Independent | Takeina Fraser | 711 | ||
| Independent | Jason Monahan | 638 | ||
| Informal | 48 | |||
| Blank | 133 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Residents & Ratepayers | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Te Ipu Wai Taketake Māori Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Te Pāti Māori | Te Rika Temara-Benfell | 2,768 | ||
| Independent | Trevor Maxwell† | 2,739 | ||
| Independent | Merepeka Raukawa-Tait | 2,328 | ||
| Independent | Rawiri Waru† | 2,266 | ||
| Independent | Harina Rupapera | 1,308 | ||
| Independent | Te Whatanui Skipwith | 1,284 | ||
| Informal | 1 | |||
| Blank | 42 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Te Pāti Māori gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Māori Ward Poll
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I vote to keep the Māori ward | 11,363 | 57.19 | |
| I vote to remove the Māori ward | 8,507 | 42.81 | |
| Total | 19,870 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 19,870 | 91.17 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,925 | 8.83 | |
| Total votes | 21,795 | 100.00 | |
| Source: [20] | |||
Notes
- 1 member partially from the district in the Rotorua general constituency.
- 1 member partially from the district in the Ōkurei Māori constituency.
- 1 member partially from the district in the Taupō-Rotorua constituency
- 1 member partially from the district in the Ngā Tai ki Uta constituency.
- 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. Rotorua Lakes Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[10]