2025 Hutt City Council election

2025 Hutt City Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Council election
Incumbents before election:
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 9
  United Hutt 2
  Labour 1
Mayoral election
Mayor before election

Campbell Barry
Labour

Elected mayor

TBD

Popular vote share of elected councillors by ward

The 2025 Hutt City Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Lower Hutt, 13 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Hutt City Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system will be used.

The council voted to introduce a Māori ward at this election; its future will be decided in a referendum on the issue, as part of a nation-wide series of referendums.

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

Representation review

In September 2024, the Hutt City Council voted to change the city's representation arrangements for the 2025 local elections. Following the recommendations of an independent panel,[3] the council voted to increase the number of councillors elected from the general wards from six to seven, decrease the number of councillors elected from the at-large ward from six to five, and to disestablish the Petone, Wainuiomata and Eastbourne community boards.[4] However, a review of these proposals by the Local Government Commission determined that the Wainuiomata and Eastbourne community boards would remain and only the Petone community board would be disestablished.[5][6]

Māori wards referendum

In November 2023, the Hutt City Council voted to establish a Māori ward for the 2025 elections.[7]

In July 2024, the National-led coalition government passed the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2024 which reinstated the requirement that councils must hold a referendum before establishing Māori wards or constituencies. On 6 September 2024, the council voted to affirm their decision to establish the Māori constituency, thereby triggering a referendum on the constituency to be held alongside the 2025 local elections.[8][9]

Amalgamation referendum

Hutt City Council will also hold an indicative referendum alongside the election regarding potential amalgamation of the council with Wellington City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Porirua City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council.[10][11][12]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Mayor

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes
Brady Dyer Councillor for the at-large ward since 2019[17]
Ken Laban Greater Wellington regional councillor for the Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai/Lower Hutt constituency since 2013[18][19]
Karen Morgan Councillor since 2022, and former principal of Taita College[20]
Prabha Ravi QSM Previously ran for councillor for the at-large ward in 2022[21]

Councillors

Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori ward

Mana Kairangi ki Tai Māori ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

Western ward

The Western ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

Northern ward

The Northern ward will return two councillors to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

Central ward

The Central ward will return two councillors to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

Harbour ward

The Harbour ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

Wainuiomata ward

The Wainuiomata ward will return one councillor to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes

At-large ward

Five councillors will be elected at-large to the city council.[1]

Candidate Affiliation[a] Notes
Jonathon Gilbert The Security Noticeboard [22]
Suzanne Levy Member of Speak up for Women[23]

Other local elections

Voters in the city will also elect members of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (three members representing the city, and one member partially from the city in the Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori constituency).[24] Voters will also elect members of two community boards (Eastbourne and Wainuiomata).[12]

See also

Note

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. Hutt City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "2025 Local Government Elections". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Elections". www.gw.govt.nz. Greater Wellington Regional Council. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  3. ^ Boyack, Nicholas (15 July 2024). "Scrap likely over move to get rid of Hutt community boards". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  4. ^ Wong, Justin (10 September 2024). "Hutt City Council gets rid of community boards". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  5. ^ Wong, Justin (24 January 2025). "Commission reinstates two Lower Hutt community boards". The Post. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Determination of representation arrangements to apply for the election of the Hutt City Council to be held on 11 October 2025" (PDF). www.lgc.govt.nz. Local Government Commission. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  7. ^ Perry, James (22 November 2023). "Hutt City Council votes to establish Māori ward". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  8. ^ Boyack, Nicholas (6 September 2024). "Emotional scenes as Hutt City endorses Māori ward". The Post. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  9. ^ "Māori ward referendum". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  10. ^ James, Nick (30 May 2025). "Hutt and Porirua councils put Wellington super city back on the table". RNZ. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  11. ^ Afemata, Mary (2 June 2025). "Porirua residents to decide on super-council, Pacific leaders urge protection of local representation". RNZ. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Election information". www.huttcity.govt.nz. Hutt City Council. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry calling it quits at next election". RNZ. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  14. ^ Ridout, Amy (10 April 2025). "Lower Hutt mayor won't stand for re-election". Stuff. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  15. ^ Afemata, Mary (8 July 2025). "Gabriel Tupou pushes for Pacific voices in regional politics". Pacific Media Network. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook". hccpublicdocs.azurewebsites.net. Hutt City Council. p. 16. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  17. ^ Wong, Justin (14 April 2025). "Lower Hutt councillor announces mayoral campaign". The Post. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  18. ^ "League veteran and councillor Ken Laban to run for Lower Hutt mayor". RNZ. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  19. ^ Afemata, Mary (1 July 2025). "Fauono Ken Laban: First Pacific candidate for Lower Hutt city race". Pacific Media Network. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  20. ^ Wong, Justin (13 March 2025). "Hutt City Councillor, former Taita College principal runs for mayor". The Post. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  21. ^ Wong, Justin (13 May 2025). "Indian dance school founder runs for Lower Hutt mayor". The Post. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  22. ^ "2025 Triennial Elections | Hutt City Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  23. ^ "Hutt council candidate wants tighter control of spending". Speak Up For Women (SUFW). Scoop. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  24. ^ "Representation arrangements". www.gw.govt.nz. Greater Wellington Regional Council. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
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