2025 Upper Hutt City Council election
Elections in New Zealand
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The 2025 Upper Hutt City Council election was a local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Upper Hutt, 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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Mayoral election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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10 seats on the Upper Hutt City 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 Upper Hutt, 10 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Upper Hutt City Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.
Urban planner and transport advisor Peri Zee won the mayoralty. Zee defeated the incumbent of 24 years Wayne Guppy, who had been seeking a ninth term as mayor.
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]
Background
Positions up for election
Voters in the city elected the mayor of Upper Hutt, 10 city councillors, and members of the Rimutaka Licensing Trust.[1] They also elected several members of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.[a][3]
Māori ward
In November 2023, the Upper Hutt City Council had voted by six to five to introduce a Māori ward for the 2025 and 2028 elections.[4] However, following a change in legislation regarding Māori wards, the council voted in August 2024 to rescind this decision. It thus avoided a requirement to hold a referendum on retaining the ward alongside this election.[5][6]
Campaign
List of candidates
Incumbents not seeking re-election
Mayor
| Candidate[10] | Photo | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blair Griffiths | None | Incumbent councillor[9][8] | ||
| Wayne Guppy | .jpg) |
None | Incumbent mayor since 2001[12][8] | |
| Emma Holderness | Independent | Incumbent councillor since 2022. Also ran for re-election as a councillor.[13] | ||
| Angela McLeod | None | Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022.[14] Also ran to be a councillor. | ||
| Hellen Swales | Change we need, voice you deserve | Incumbent deputy mayor, also ran as a councillor[9][15] | ||
| Peri Zee | None | Urban planner and transport adviser[12][16] | ||
Councillors
Ten councillors were elected at-large to the city council.[17]
| Candidate[10] | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramil Adhikari | None | Previously ran for council in 2022[18][19] | |
| Michael J Anderson | None | ||
| Euan Andrews | None | ||
| Heather Blissett | None | ||
| Dave Burt | Hope resilience and a shared future | ||
| Matt Carey | Independent | Incumbent councillor[8] | |
| Wade Cashmore | Independent | ||
| Gurpreet Dhillon | None | [19] | |
| Henry Grey | None | ||
| Tofa Gush | Our Community | ||
| Bill Hammond | Independent | Incumbent councillor[8] | |
| Emma Holderness | Independent | Incumbent councillor since 2022.[8] Also ran for mayor.[13] | |
| Teresa Homan | Independent | ||
| Rachel Tukaki Kingi | None | ||
| Nigel Mander | Serve the community | ||
| Kylie McKenna | Independent | ||
| Angela McLeod | None | Also ran for mayor | |
| David (DJ) McNicholas | None | ||
| Heather Newell | None | Incumbent councillor[8] | |
| Hellen Swales | The voice you deserve | Incumbent deputy mayor,[8] also ran for mayor[9] | |
| Brett Thomson | None | ||
| Tracey Ultra | Independent | Incumbent councillor[8] | |
| Daniel Welch | Backing the Future of Upper Hutt | ||
| Dave Wheeler | None | Incumbent councillor[8] | |
| Corey White | Independent | ||
Results
Overall turnout was 50.06%, with 16,728 voting papers returned.[20]
With final results, the following candidates were declared elected:[20]
Mayor
In an upset, urban planner and transport advisor Peri Zee defeated incumbent mayor of 24 years Wayne Guppy, who had been seeking a ninth term in office.[21][22]
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Peri Zee | 5,479 | 32.75 | |
| Independent | Wayne Guppy† | 3,931 | 23.50 | |
| Independent | Angela McLeod | 1,941 | 11.60 | |
| Independent | Blair Griffiths | 1,892 | 11.31 | |
| Independent | Emma Holderness | 1,843 | 11.02 | |
| Independent | Hellen Swales | 1,511 | 9.03 | |
| Informal | 15 | 0.09 | ||
| Blank | 116 | 0.69 | ||
| Turnout | 16,728 | |||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Council
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Emma Holderness† | 9,251 | ||
| Independent | Tracey Ultra† | 7,903 | ||
| Independent | Angela McLeod | 7,651 | ||
| Independent | Dave Wheeler† | 6,836 | ||
| Independent | Corey White | 6,807 | ||
| Independent | Helen Swales† | 6,424 | ||
| Independent | Bill Hammond† | 6,117 | ||
| Independent | Daniel Welch | 5,963 | ||
| Independent | Matt Carey† | 5,892 | ||
| Independent | Gurpreet Dhillon | 5,777 | ||
| Independent | Tofa Gush | 5,710 | ||
| Independent | Euan Andrews | 5,552 | ||
| Independent | Henry Grey | 5,381 | ||
| Independent | Rachel Kingi | 5,182 | ||
| Independent | Brett Thomson | 5,029 | ||
| Independent | Kylie McKenna | 4,565 | ||
| Independent | Heather Newell† | 4,248 | ||
| Independent | Dave Burt | 3,853 | ||
| Independent | Wade Cashmore | 3,760 | ||
| Independent | Ramil Adhikari | 3,733 | ||
| Independent | Michael J Anderson | 3,460 | ||
| Independent | David McNicholas | 3,164 | ||
| Independent | Teresa Homan | 3,087 | ||
| Independent | Heather Blissett | 2,878 | ||
| Independent | Nigel Mander | 2,844 | ||
| Informal | 51 | |||
| Blank | 172 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
See also
Notes
- 1 member representing the city.
- 1 member partially from the city in the Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori 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. Upper Hutt City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[11]