Results of the 2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections in the Bay of Plenty

2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections
(Bay of Plenty)
← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →
	5 of 6 local councils
	5 mayors and 44 local councillors
Mayors
Local councillors

Elections for the territorial authorities of New Zealand were held from 9 September until 11 October 2025 as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. 709 local councillors and 66 mayors were elected across 66 of 67 councils.

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6 territorial authorities are primarily located within the Bay of Plenty Region. Tauranga did not hold elections as the city had elections last year. 5 mayors and 44 district councillors were elected.

Council	Electoral system	Seats	Councillors						Details	Refs
Council	Electoral system	Seats	2022			Elected			Details	Refs
Western Bay of Plenty	FPP	9		Independent	11		Independent	9	Details	^[1]
Rotorua Lakes	FPP	10		Independent	9		Independent	9	Details	^[2]
Rotorua Lakes	FPP	10		Residents and Ratepayers	1		Te Pāti Māori	1	Details	^[2]
Whakatāne	FPP	10		Independent	9		Independent	10	Details	^[3]
Kawerau	FPP	8		Independent	8		Independent	8	Details	^[4]
Ōpōtiki	FPP	7		Independent	6		Independent	7	Details	^[5]
5 of 6 councils		44

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Denyer^†	4,424	28.92
	Independent	Margaret Murray-Benge	2,737	17.89
	Independent	Rodney Joyce	1,890	12.35
	Independent	Grant Dally	1,743	11.39
	Independent	Don Thwaites	1,596	10.43
	Independent	John Holyoake	1,191	7.79
	Independent	Suaree Borell	951	6.22
	Independent	Danielle Borell-Faa'soo	295	1.93
Informal			57	0.37
Blank			414	2.71
Turnout			15,298	(37.94)
Registered			40,318
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Allan Sole^†	2,036
	Independent	Rodney Joyce^†	1,919
	Independent	John Clements	1,350
	Independent	Andy Earl	1,315
	Independent	Wayne Stevenson	1,205
	Independent	Candice Thomas	559
Informal			16
Blank			93
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Shane Beech	2,147
	Independent	Grant Dally^†	2,068
	Independent	Laura Rae^†	1,550
	Independent	Andy Wichers^†	1,416
	Independent	Manvir Singh Mann	1,025
	Independent	John Bowden	783
Informal			2
Blank			75
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Margaret Murray-Benge^†	2,419
	Independent	Tracey Coxhead^†	2,383
	Independent	Graeme Elvin	2,039
	Independent	Murray Grainger^†	1,909
	Independent	Don Thwaites^†	1,875
	Independent	Chris Dever	1,867
	Independent	Drew Cowley	681
	Independent	Danielle Borell-Faa'soo	460
	Independent	Destiny Leaf	456
Informal			3
Blank			88
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
^† incumbent

Results of the 2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections in the Bay of Plenty

Maps

Summary

Affiliation of councillors by council

Western Bay of Plenty District Council

2025 Western Bay of Plenty mayoral election

Katikati-Waihī Beach general ward

Maketu-Te Puke general ward

Kaimai general ward

Waka Kai Uru Māori ward

Rotorua Lakes Council

2025 Rotorua mayoral election

Rural general ward

Te Ipu Wai Auraki general ward

Te Ipu Wai Taketake Māori ward

Whakatāne District Council

2025 Whakatāne mayoral election

Whakatāne-Ōhope general ward

Te Urewera general ward

Rangitāiki general ward

Rangitāiki Māori ward

Kāpū-te-rangi Māori ward

Toi ki Uta Māori ward

Kawerau District Council

2025 Kawerau mayoral election

At-large

Kawerau general ward

Kawerau Māori ward

Ōpōtiki District Council

2025 Ōpōtiki mayoral election

Urban general ward

Rural general ward

Coast Māori ward

Ōpōtiki Māori ward

See also

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Darlene Dinsdale	531	37.69
	Independent	Carlton Bidois	421	29.88
	Independent	Suaree Borell	421	29.88
Informal			1	0.07
Blank			35	2.48
Turnout			1,409
Registered
	Independent win (new ward)

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

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Karen Barker^†	Unopposed
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

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

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

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent Green	Nándor Tánczos	3,713
	Independent	Victor Luca^†	3,569
	Independent	Mark Inman	1,698
	Independent	Andrew Iles	1,559
	Independent	Philip Jacobs	1,317
	Independent	Wilson James	834
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
	Independent Green gain from Independent
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Carolyn Hamill	4,211
	Independent	Lesley Immink^†	3,225
	Independent	Julie Jukes^†	3,033
	Independent	Malcolm Whitaker	2,575
	Independent	Brendan Horan	2,413
	Independent	Chris Barnard	2,084
	Independent	Dave Stewart	1,994
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Andrew Iles^†	Unopposed
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Gavin Dennis^†	Unopposed
	Independent	Wilson James^†	Unopposed
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Tu O'Brien^†	660
	Independent	Rihi Vercoe	385
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Toni Boynton^†	779
	Independent	Hiria Wallace	228
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Jesse Morgan-Ranui	807
	Independent	Glenn McGahan	239
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	Independent	Faylene Tunui^†	1,663	70.91
	Independent	Carolyn Ion	660	28.14
Informal			0	0.00
Blank			22	0.94
Turnout			2,345
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Sela Kingi^†	1,397
	Independent	Joyce Julian	1,332
	Independent	Carolyn Ion	1,086
	Independent	Wayne Andrews	462
Informal			11
Blank			31
Turnout
Registered
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Justin Ross^†	1,083
	Independent	Anthony Worsley	838
	Independent	Tracy Hill	643
	Independent	Melissa Drummond	307
Informal			2
Blank			24
Turnout
Registered
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Waikite Apiata	667
	Independent	Gloria Leokaava-Taani	493
	Independent	Mal Dowie	453
	Independent	Lyzette Howard	407
Informal			1
Blank			8
Turnout
Registered
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	Independent	David Moore^†	2,141	71.97
	Independent	Curley Keno	786	26.42
Informal			1	0.03
Blank			47	1.58
Turnout			2,975
Registered
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Shona Browne^†	518
	Independent	Barry Howe^†	491
	Independent	Lyn Riesterer	185
	Independent	Alex Long	150
	Independent	Simon Prout	51
Informal			0
Blank			8
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Dean Petersen^†	529
	Independent	Steve Nelson^†	479
	Independent	Chris Hopman	398
	Independent	Caitlin Papuni-McLellan	386
	Independent	Jodi Porter	181
Informal			1
Blank			11
Turnout
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
^† incumbent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Pāpā Wharewera	277
	Independent	Haki McRoberts	92
Informal			0
Blank			9
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Maude Maxwell	510
	Independent	Curley Keno	397
	Independent	Linda Steel	319
Informal			1
Blank			8
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent gain from Independent