2025 Darwin City Council election

Last updated
2025 Darwin City Council election
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←  2021 23 August 20252029 →
All 13 seats on Darwin City Council
Registered51,716 [1] [2]
Lord Mayor
Turnout63.2%
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Peter Styles.png
Kon Vatskalis 2019.jpg
IND
Candidate Peter Styles Kon Vatskalis Julie Fraser
Party Independent Independent Independent
Primary  vote6,7866,2263,181
Percentage22.6%20.7%10.6%
SwingIncrease2.svg 22.6Decrease2.svg 36.5Increase2.svg 10.6
TCP 53.3%46.7%
TCP swingIncrease2.svg 53.3Decrease2.svg 46.7
Lord Mayor before election

Kon Vatskalis
Independent

Elected Lord Mayor

Peter Styles
Independent

Councillors
PartyVote %Seats+/–
Independents
Greens
Independent Labor
Independent CLP
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2025 Darwin City Council election was held on 23 August 2025 to elect a lord mayor and twelve councillors to the City of Darwin. [3] [4] The election was part of the local government elections held throughout the Northern Territory. [5] [6]

Contents

In a field of thirteen candidates, Peter Styles defeated incumbent mayor Kon Vatskalis. [7] [8] As of 7 September 2025, Vatskalis has not conceded to Styles, claiming electoral fraud. [9] [10]

Retiring councillors

Greens

Independent Labor

Candidates

Lord Mayor

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.

PartyCandidateBackground
  Independent Kon Vatskalis Lord Mayor of Darwin since 2017 [15]
  Independent Peter Styles Former Deputy Chief Minister [16] [17]
  Independent Andrew John ArthurFormer Darwin councillor [18] [19]
  Independent Vicki BonsonFounder of Fannie Bay Free Feeds
  Independent Leah PotterComedian and candidate lord mayor in 2021
  Independent Sylvia KlonarisCouncillor for Waters Ward since 2021 [20] [21]
  Independent Robin LawrenceCandidate for Lord Mayor in 2021 [22]
  Independent Sam WestonCouncillor for Lyons Ward since 2023 [23] [24] [25]
  Independent Nicole Brown2022 City of Darwin Citizen of the Year [26]
  Independent Julie FraserUnion organiser [27]
  Independent Amye UnCouncillor for Lyons Ward since 2021 [28] [29]
  Independent Scarlet D'Arc
  Independent Edwin JosephCandidate for Richardson Ward in 2017 and 2021 [30]

Results

Lord Mayor

2025 Northern Territory local elections: Darwin
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Peter Styles 6,78622.6
Independent Kon Vatskalis 6,22620.7
Independent Sylvia Klonaris3,20910.7
Independent Julie Fraser3,18110.6
Independent Sam Weston2,9089.7
Independent Edwin Joseph2,1407.1
Independent Nicole Brown1,4404.8
Independent Amye Un1,0123.4
Independent Andrew John Arthur1,0613.5
Independent Leah Potter9093.0
Independent Vicki Bonson5161.7
Independent Scarlet D'Arc4571.5
Independent Robin Lawrence1960.7
Total formal votes30,04191.9
Informal votes2,6598.1
Turnout 32,70063.2
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Peter Styles 15,99953.3
Independent Julie Fraser14,04346.7
Peter Styles gain from Kon Vatskalis  

Chan

2025 Northern Territory local elections: Chan Ward [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Labor Ed Smelt (elected 1)2,09528.0
Independent Julie Fraser (elected 2)1,87325.0
Independent Peter Pangquee (elected 3)1,02213.6
Greens Ellyane Wall77510.3
Independent Gary Strachan7209.6
Independent Clarence CJ McCarthy-Grogan5527.4
Independent Lenny3354.5
Independent Manik Gowda1181.6
Total formal votes7,49095.2
Informal votes3744.8
Turnout 7,86462.0

Lyons

2025 Northern Territory local elections: Lyons Ward [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Sam Weston (elected 1)1,67423.2
Independent CLP Mick Palmer (elected 2)1,36218.8
Independent Brett Hagan86612.0
Independent Nicole Brown (elected 3)79311.0
Independent Amye Un6599.1
Independent Nick O'Loughlin5187.2
Independent Vicki Bonson4005.5
Independent Scarlet D'Arc3534.9
Independent Mark Barnes3424.7
Independent Andrew Lee2623.6
Total formal votes7,22994.0
Informal votes4616.0
Turnout 7,69060.3

Richardson

2025 Northern Territory local elections: Richardson Ward (after Peter Styles exclusion) [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Labor Jimmy Bouhoris (elected 1)3,19538.2
Independent Shani Carson (elected 2)2,39028.6
Independent Edwin Joseph (elected 3)1,76921.2
Independent Andrew John Arthur7669.2
Independent Yulita Villanueva2382.8
Independent Peter Styles [a] ––
Total formal votes8,15096.3
Informal votes3143.7
Turnout 8,46466.1

Total formal and informal votes are based on results prior to the exclusion of Peter Styles.

Waters

2025 Northern Territory local elections: Waters Ward
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Sylvia Klonaris (elected 1)2,17028.0
Independent Patrik Ralph (elected 2)1,95825.3
Independent Kim Farrar (elected 3)1,24616.1
Independent Mirella Fejo96012.4
Independent Tejinder Singh6107.9
Independent Robin Lawrence3544.6
Independent Manoli Papathomas3033.9
Independent Otto Kainulainen1391.8
Total formal votes7,74094.7
Informal votes4365.3
Turnout 8,17660.7

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Because Peter Styles was elected Lord Mayor, his 1,915 votes (23.5%) in the Richardson Ward councillor election were automatically distributed to other candidates based on the preferences allocated by voters.

References

  1. ↑ "Enrolment statistics". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. 19 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  2. ↑ "Results". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. 23 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "City of Darwin 2025 election – candidate survey for Lee Point". Save Lee Point. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "COD Election Forum 2025". PLan – the Planning Action Network Inc. 9 August 2025. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Here's the list of everyone running in the Local Government election on August 23". NT Independent. 7 August 2025. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Guenzler, Joseph (15 August 2025). "CJ McCarthy-Grogan to run for Darwin Council's Chan Ward". National Indigenous Times. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Kon Vatskalis slams proposed NT council mayor election changes". The Greek Herald. 1 May 2025. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  8. ↑ Woolf, Katie (18 August 2025). "Local Government Election Coverage with Katie Woolf". Mix 104.9. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Good morning Darwin". Facebook. Kon Vatskalis. 7 September 2025. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  10. ↑ Hood, Lottie (7 September 2025). "Kon-tortion: Ex-Darwin Lord Mayor claims 'electoral fraud' and says he will not accept results". The Daily Telegraph. NT News. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  11. ↑ "Councillor Morgan Rickard". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Morgan Rickard". NT Greens. Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Councillor Vim Sharma". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  14. ↑ "Councillor Rebecca Want de Rowe". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  15. ↑ "Incumbent Lord Mayor of Darwin Kon Vatskalis". 360 with Katie Woolf. 14 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  16. ↑ "Peter Styles 4 Mayor". peterstyles.au. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  17. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Peter Styles". 360 with Katie Woolf. 14 August 2025. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  18. ↑ McLean, Thomas (14 August 2025). "Former councillor Andrew Arthur puts hand up for Lord Mayor, councillor of Darwin". The Daily Telegraph. NT News. Archived from the original on 21 August 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  19. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Andrew Arthur". 360 with Katie Woolf. 18 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Councillor Sylvia Klonaris". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  21. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Sylvia Klonaris". 360 with Katie Woolf. 15 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  22. ↑ Mathieson, Andrew (16 August 2021). "Rival mayoral candidates call for change, incumbent Kon Vatskalis confident of leadership". The Daily Telegraph. NT News. Archived from the original on 28 August 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  23. ↑ "Councillor Sam Weston". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  24. ↑ Dick, Samantha (19 September 2023). "Darwin Lyons Ward by-election won by cafe owner Sam Weston, as 6,000 residents face fines for failing to vote". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  25. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Sam Weston". 360 with Katie Woolf. 14 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  26. ↑ "Reconciliation Advisory Committee gains new community representatives". City of Darwin. 13 July 2022. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  27. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Julie Fraser". 360 with Katie Woolf. 14 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  28. ↑ "Councillor Amye Un". City of Darwin. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  29. ↑ Garrick, Matt (23 August 2023). "City of Darwin councillor Amye Un banned from council buildings after 'threatening' Facebook posts". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  30. ↑ "Darwin Lord Mayor candidate Edwin Joseph". 360 with Katie Woolf. 18 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  31. 1 2 3 "Register of annual return of interests" (PDF). City of Darwin. 10 February 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
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