2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election

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2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election
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  2022 11 October 20252028 
Turnout12,927 (41.16%)
Mayoral election

Mayor before election

Glyn Lewers
Independent

Elected mayor

John Glover
Independent

Council election

12 seats on the Queenstown-Lakes District Council
7 seats needed for a majority
PartySeats+/–
Independent 12
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election - Popular vote share of elected councillors by ward.svg

The 2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in the Queenstown-Lakes District of New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, 11 district councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

Contents

John Glover won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Glyn Lewers.

Key dates

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the district elected the mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, 11 district councillors in 3 wards, and the members of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board. [2] They also elected several members to the Otago Regional Council. [a] [3] [4]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Mayor

Candidate [8] Affiliation [b] Notes
Al AngusNonePreviously ran for mayor in 2022 [10]
John GloverNoneHotel owner. [11] Ran in the 2023 Arrowtown-Kawarau by-election.
Nik Kiddle Independent Mayoral candidate in 2019 [12]
Glyn LewersNoneIncumbent mayor since 2022 [6] [7]
Darren RewiNoneChair of Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust [13] [14]
Daniel ShandIndependent (Direct Democracy)Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022 [15]

Councillors

Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward

Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward will return four councillors to the district council. [2]

Candidate [8] Affiliation [b] Notes
Gavin BartlettNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]
Stephen BrentNoneLawyer and chair of 45South Community Foundation [16]
Aaron CowieIndependent [17]
Craig "Ferg" FergusonNoneIncumbent councillor [7]
Jon MitchellIndependentPreviously ran for the mayoralty in 2022 [18]
Rene SmithNone
Matt WongIndependentIncumbent councillor [7]

Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward

Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward will return four councillors to the district council. [2]

Candidate [8] Affiliation [b] Notes
Barry BruceNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]
Lyal CocksNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]
Craig GassonNone [19]
Niki GladdingIndependentIncumbent councillor for the Queenstown-Whakatipu ward [20] [7]
Nicola KingNone
Yeverley McCarthyNone
Quentin SmithNoneIncumbent deputy mayor [6] [7]
Cody TuckerNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]
Thorsk G WestphalNone

Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward

Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward will return three councillors to the district council. [2]

Candidate [8] Affiliation [b] Notes
"Q" (Samuel) BelkNone
Heath CoplandNonePreviously ran for council in 2019 [21]
Lisa GuyNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]
Tim ManningNone
Melissa WhiteNoneIncumbent councillor [6] [7]

Results

Overall turnout for this election was 41.16%, with 12,927 voting papers returned. [22]

With the final results, the following candidates were declared elected: [22]

Mayor

John Glover won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Glyn Lewers. [23]

AffiliationCandidateVotes%
NoneJohn Glover4,599
NoneGlyn Lewers3,244
Independent Nik Kiddle2,108
NoneDarren Rewi1,671
NoneAl Angus874
Independent (Direct Democracy)Daniel Shand125
Informal36
Blank270
Majority1,355
Turnout12,927

Council

Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward

AffiliationCandidateVotes%
IndependentMatt Wong2,287
NoneGavin Bartlett2,002
NoneStephen Brent1,924
IndependentJon Mitchell1,689
NoneCraig 'Ferg' Ferguson1,648
IndependentAaron Cowie1,349
NoneRene Smith904
Informal4
Blank55
Turnout

Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward

AffiliationCandidateVotes%
NoneNicola King3,610
NoneQuentin Smith3,394
IndependentNiki Gladding2,863
NoneCody Tucker2,039
NoneCraig Gasson2,005
IndependentYeverley McCarthy2,005
NoneLyal Cocks1,667
NoneBarry Bruce1,241
NoneThorsk G Westphal1,083
Informal15
Blank28
Turnout

Arrowtown-Kawarau Ward

AffiliationCandidateVotes%
NoneHeath Copland1,927
NoneMelissa White1,730
IndependentQ (Samuel) Belk1,703
NoneLisa Guy1,518
NoneTim Manning1,448
Informal7
Blank117
Turnout

See also

Notes

  1. Four members in the Dunstan general constituency.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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. Queenstown-Lakes District Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation. [9]

References

  1. "Elections". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Voting". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  3. "Dunstan awarded extra regional councillor by Local Government Commission". Otago Regional Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  4. "Determination of representation arrangements to apply for the election of the Otago Regional Council to be held on 11 October 2025" (PDF). Local Government Commission. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  5. Newport, Peter (28 June 2024). "Esther Whitehead: Why I won't stand for council again". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Newport, Peter (17 June 2025). "Quentin Smith considers QLDC mayoralty, other councillors declare their intentions". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Elected Members". www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown Lakes District Council . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "2025 Triennial Elections | Queenstown Lakes District Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  9. "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown-Lakes District Council. p. 15. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. Wards, Sue (11 July 2022). "Al Angus to stand for mayor again". The Wānaka App. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  11. "John Glover enters mayoral race with "hard reset" of QLDC". Crux. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  12. "Nik Kiddle to contest mayoralty". The Wānaka App. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  13. Taylor, Paul (9 July 2025). "Rewi steps forward". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  14. Rewi, Darren (9 July 2025). "Darren Rewi enters QLDC mayoral race". Crux. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  15. Jamieson, Debbie (2 September 2022). "The Queenstown Lakes mayoral race: Who will replace Jim Boult?". Stuff . Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  16. Chandler, Philip (29 June 2025). "Lawyer puts hat in the ring". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  17. "QLDC candidate statement from Aaron Cowie". Crux. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  18. Roxburgh, Tracey (13 April 2022). "Mitchell running for mayor as independent". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  19. "Wānaka's Craig Gasson to run for council". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  20. Newport, Peter (29 July 2025). "Niki Gladding to stand again for the QLDC". Crux. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  21. Hudson, Daisy (3 July 2019). "Accountant to run for Arrowtown seat on QLDC". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 31 July 2025.
  22. 1 2 "2025 Triennial Elections DECLARATION OF RESULT" (PDF). www.electionz.com. Queenstown Lakes District Council . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  23. Todd, Katie (12 October 2025). "New Queenstown mayor: It's 'getting our own house in order'". RNZ . Retrieved 14 October 2025.