2025 Dunedin City Council election

2025 Dunedin City Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Council election
Incumbents before election:
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 10
  Team Dunedin 3
  Labour 1
Mayor before election

Jules Radich
Independent

Elected mayor

TBD

First preference vote share of elected councillors by ward

The 2025 Dunedin City Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Dunedin, New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Dunedin and 14 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Dunedin City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote system will be used.

Key dates

  • 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates will open
  • 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates will close at 12 pm
  • 9 September 2025: Voting documents will be posted and voting will open
  • 11 October 2025: Voting will close at 12 pm and progress/preliminary results will be published
  • 16–19 October 2025: Final results will be declared.[1][2]

Background

Campaign

Debates

On 17 June 2025, Dunedin climate advocate Bruce Mahalski held a public meeting for DCC council and mayoral candidates to field questions on climate change issues including a commercial train service, the city's Zero Carbon Plan 2030, and relations between the DCC and Otago Regional Council. Mayoral candidates Cr Sophie Barker and Andrew Simms, and city council candidates Cr Marie Laufiso, Cr Jim O'Malley and Lily Warring spoke at the meeting, which was attended by 50 people.[3]

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Mayor

Main article: 2025 Dunedin mayoral election
Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes
Sophie Barker Independent - working for you Incumbent councillor.[5] Also running for council.[6]
Carmen Houlahan Independent Incumbent councillor[7]
Mandy Mayhem Independent Incumbent councillor and former Waikouaiti Coast Community Board member[8]
David Milne [6]
Flynn NisVett Silly Hat Party[9] Joke party candidate
Jules Radich Incumbent mayor since 2022[10][11]
Andrew Simms Future Dunedin Motor dealer[10]
Mickey Treadwell Green Video game programmer and part-time lecturer[12]
Lee Vandervis Independent Incumbent councillor[8]

Endorsements

In mid June 2025, former Team Dunedin councillors Andrew Whiley and Kevin Gilbert endorsed Sophie Barker as mayoral candidate.[13]

Councillors

Fourteen councillors will be elected at-large to the city council.[14]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes
Bill Acklin Independent Incumbent councillor[15]
Sophie Barker Incumbent councillor. Also running for mayor.[6]
Rachel Brazil Future Dunedin Lawyer[16][17]
Rose Finnie Green Support worker[12]
Jo Galer Future Dunedin Leader of the Southern Heritage Trust and Otago Regional Council communications professional[17]
Christine Garey Independent Incumbent councillor[15]
Jett Groshinski Labour Otago University Students' Association politics representative and 2022 mayoral and local council candidate[18][15]
Jarrod Hodson Future Dunedin West Harbour Community Board manager and commercial manager[16][17]
Carmen Houlahan Independent Incumbent councillor[15]
Anthony Kenny ACT Local Former Royal New Zealand Navy serviceman[19][20]
Cherry Lucas Independent Deputy mayor and incumbent city councillor[15]
Mandy Mayhem Independent Incumbent councillor[8][15]
Bruce Ranga Future Dunedin Former CEO of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council and member of the Te Pae Oranga Iwi Community Panel[17]
Andrew Simms Future Dunedin Businessman, Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board chairman, founder of Future Dunedin, mayoral candidate[16]
Conrad Stedman Future Dunedin Former city councillor[16][17]
Andrew Sutton Future Dunedin President of Taieri Cricket Club and school boards chairperson[17]
Amy Taylor Future Dunedin Volunteer and disability advocate[16][17]
Mickey Treadwell Green Video game programmer and part-time lecturer[12]
Rebecca Twemlow Future Dunedin Director of Business South and former Vice President of the Otago Chamber of Commerce[16][17]
Lee Vandervis Independent Incumbent councillor[8][15]
Steve Walker Labour Incumbent councillor[18][15]
Lily Warring Green Visual designer[12]
Andrew Whiley Independent Incumbent councillor[15]

Withdrawn candidates

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes
Robert Hamlin Future Dunedin University of Otago Business School lecturer. Removed as a Future Dunedin candidate after he circulated an email criticising the use of karakia (Māori prayers) at university meetings.[21]

Other local elections

Voters across the city will also elect 7 members of the Otago Regional Council (5 councillors will represent the city exclusively, 2 councilors will represent parts of the city and parts of neighbouring Clutha District).[2] Depending on where in the city they live they will also elect the members of 6 community boards (Strath Taieri, Waikouaiti Coast, Mosgiel-Taieri, Saddle Hill, West Harbour, or Otago Peninsula)[14] and members of the Oamaru Licensing Trust.[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c 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.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.dunedin.govt.nz. Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b "2025 Elections". www.orc.govt.nz. Otago Regional Council. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  3. ^ Shaw, Ruby (18 June 2025). "Council hopefuls talk about climate change". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.dunedin.govt.nz. Dunedin City Council. p. 15. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  5. ^ Shaw, Ruby (14 June 2025). "Mayoral candidate ready to step up". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "2025 Triennial Elections | Dunedin City Council". www.electionz.com. electionz.com. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  7. ^ Miller, Grant (2 July 2025). "Houlahan joining race for mayoralty". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Shaw, Ruby (22 May 2025). "Eighth time lucky for Vandervis in mayoral bid?". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  9. ^ NisVett, Flynn (2 June 2025). "Flynn NisVett puts hat in the ring for Dunedin Mayoralty". Silly Hat Party. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  10. ^ a b Manhire, Toby (7 February 2025). "Who is in and who is out in the big mayoral races of 2025?". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 7 April 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  11. ^ Miller, Grant (12 October 2024). "Radich keen to keep hold of mayoral chain". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d "Thriving communities sought by Greens candidates". Otago Daily Times. 27 May 2025. Archived from the original on 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  13. ^ Shaw, Ruby (17 June 2025). "Radich allies switch to Barker". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Elections". www.dunedin.govt.nz. Dunedin City Council. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shaw, Ruby (22 May 2025). "Nine city councillors confirm intention to seek re-election". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  16. ^ a b c d e f MacLean, Hamish (17 March 2025). "New 'Future Dunedin' DCC ticket declared". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Home". Future Dunedin. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Labour endorsing candidates in DCC election". Otago Daily Times. APL. 21 May 2025. Archived from the original on 20 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  19. ^ ACT New Zealand (27 June 2025). "Local Business Owner & Former Royal New Zealand Navy Serviceman, Anthony Kenny, Selected As ACT Local Candidate For DCC". www.scoop.co.nz. Scoop. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Ex-navy serviceman named Act candidate". Otago Daily Times. 28 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  21. ^ Littlewood, Matthew (26 March 2025). "Mayoral hopeful dumps candidate over karakia critique". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
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