2025 Tasman District Council election

2025 Tasman District Council election

←  2022 11 October 2025 2028 →

Mayoral election

Mayor before election Tim King Independent Elected mayor TBD

Council election

14 seats on the Tasman District Council 8 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats +/– Independents 1 to be determined 13 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2025 Tasman District Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in the Tasman District of New Zealand as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Tasman, 14 district councillors, and eight community board members for the 2025–2028 term of the Tasman District Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system will be used.

A Māori ward will be introduced for this election, won by Paul Morgan who was unopposed. The future of this ward will be decided in a referendum on the issue, as part of a nation-wide series of referendums.

Key dates

The following key dates apply for the 2025 local election: ^[1]

• 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates will open
• 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates will close at 12 noon
• 9 September 2025: Voting documents will be posted and voting will open
• 11 October 2025: Voting will close at 12 noon and progress/preliminary results will be published
• 17 October 2025: Final results will be declared.

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the district will elect the mayor of Tasman, 14 district councillors in 5 wards, and the members of two community boards (Golden Bay and Motueka). ^[2]

The district has five geographical wards, which elect thirteen councillors: four councillors for Richmond, three for Moutere–Waimea, three for Motueka, two for Golden Bay, and one for Lakes–Murchison. The mayor and the one Māori ward councillor are elected at-large.

Representation

The council voted to establish a Māori ward for the 2025 local elections in 2023. The ward will be named Te Tai o Aorere Māori and will elect one councillor. ^[1]

The government passed legislation in 2024 on Māori wards that requires councils to hold a binding referendum alongside the 2025 elections if they established Māori wards without holding a referendum; ^[3] Council voted for the Māori ward to remain for the 2025 election. ^[4]

The council consulted in 2024 whether the ward representation should change. ^[5] The elected members decided to make one minor change, with the Totara View area located south of Wakefield shifting from the Lakes–Murchison ward to the Moutere–Waimea ward. ^{[6] [7]}

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

• Stuart Bryant (Lakes–Murchison ward), incumbent deputy mayor and district councillor since a June 1999 by-election, will retire at the 2025 election. ^{[8] [9] [10]}
• Barry Dowler, incumbent councillor for the Motueka ward ^{[9] [10]}
• Chris Hill, incumbent councillor for the Golden Bay ward ^{[11] [10]}
• Christeen Mackenzie, incumbent councillor for the Moutere / Waimea ward ^{[11] [10]}
• Dan Shallcrass, incumbent councillor for the Moutere / Waimea ward ^{[11] [10]}

Mayor

The first candidate for the mayoralty was Timo Neubauer, who declared his candidacy in early May 2025. ^[12]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Maxwell Clark			None	Brother of Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark. Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. [15] Also running for mayor in Invercargill under the name Andrew Clark. [16] [17] [18]
Richard Johns			None	Retiree, and third-time mayoral candidate [18]
Tim King			None	Incumbent mayor since 2019 [11] [18] [19]
Timo Neubauer			Independent	Urban designer who lives in Hope. [12] Also running to be a councillor in the Richmond general ward. [18]
Richard Osmaston			None	Previously ran for the mayoralties of Westland, Grey, Buller, Marlborough, Nelson, and Tasman in 2022. [20] Also running to be a councillor in the Lakes-Murchison general ward, [18] and concurrently for the mayoralties of four other councils: Nelson, Buller, Grey and Westland. [21]

Councillors

Te Tai o Aorere Māori ward

Te Tai o Aorere Māori ward will return one councillor to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Paul Morgan			None	CNZM (2022; for services to Māori and business) [23]

Richmond general ward

Richmond general ward will return four councillors to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Glen Daikee			None	Incumbent councillor [11]
Jo Ellis			None	Incumbent councillor [11]
Mark Greening			Sensible, Affordable and Ethical	Incumbent councillor [11]
Kit Maling			Independent	Incumbent councillor [11]
Timo Neubauer			Independent	Also running for mayor [18]
Daniel Shirley			ACT Local	[24] [25]

Motueka general ward

Motueka general ward will return three councillors to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Kerryn Ferneyhough			None
Brent Maru			None	Incumbent councillor [11]
David Ross			ACT Local	[26] [25]
Trindi Walker			None	Incumbent councillor [11]

Moutere-Waimea general ward

Moutere-Waimea general ward will return three councillors to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Julian Eggers			Independent
Michael Kininmonth			None	Incumbent councillor [11]
Dean McNamara			Sensible, Affordable and Ethical	Former two-term councillor who lost his seat in 2022 [27]
Dave Woods			None

Golden Bay general ward

Golden Bay general ward will return two councillors to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Rod Barker			None
Celia Butler			None	Incumbent councillor [11]
Axel Downard-Wilke			Independent	Transport planner, engineer and Wikipedian [28] [29]
Julian Hall			None	[30]
Mark Hume			None

Lakes-Murchison general ward

Lakes-Murchison general ward will return one councillor to the district council. ^[22]

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Nicola Allan			None
John Gully			None
Richard Osmaston			None	Perennial candidate from the Money Free movement; [20] also standing for mayor. [18]

Community boards

Tasman District Council has two community boards: one covering Golden Bay and the other for the Motueka ward. Four community board members will be elected per board. ^[1]

Golden Bay Community Board

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Sunshine Appleby			Independent
Clarissa Bruning			None
Henry Dixon			Independent	Incumbent board member
Axel Downard-Wilke			Independent	Also running to be a councillor for the Golden Bay general ward.
Grant Knowles			None	Incumbent board member
Mark Raffills			None
Rodney Ward			Independent	Local businessman [31]

Motueka Community Board

Candidate [13]	Photo	Affiliation [a]		Notes
Ray Hellyer			None
Claire Hutt			None	Incumbent board member
John Katene			None
Laura Lusk			None
David Ogilvie			None	Has previously served in various roles between 1971 and 2022. [32]

Results

Final results are expected by 17 October.

Summary

Ward	Previous		Elected
Mayor		Tim King		to be determined
Golden Bay		Celia Butler
		Chris Hill
Lakes / Murchison		Stuart Bryant
Motueka		Barry Dowler
		Brent Maru
		Trindi Walker
Moutere / Waimea		Mike Kininmonth
		Christine Mackenzie
		Dan Shallcrass
Richmond		Glen Daikee
		Jo Ellis
		Mark Greening
		Kit Maling
Te Tai o Aorere Māori		New ward		Paul Morgan

Should the district have Māori wards?

Choice	Votes	%
Result not yet known
Total votes	—	100.00

See also

• 2025 Nelson City Council election

Notes

1. 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. Tasman District Council does not allow election slogans to be used for the affiliation. ^[14]

References

1. "Candidate Handbook" (PDF). Tasman District Council. May 2025. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
2. "Elections". www.tasman.govt.nz. Tasman District Council . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
3. "Māori wards ultimatum for councils as coalition government imposes referendums". Radio New Zealand . 4 April 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
4. Gee, Samantha (5 September 2024). "Nelson, Tasman councils vote to retain Māori wards". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
5. Frethey, Max (20 July 2024). "Two councillors, or not two councillors, that is the question for Golden Bay". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
6. Frethey, Max (4 October 2024). "The Tasman council ward that 'makes absolutely no sense' to remain". Stuff . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
7. "Wakefield's Totara View To Join Moutere–Waimea Ward" (Press release). Richmond: Tasman District Council. Scoop. 26 March 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
8. Sivignon, Cherie (1 November 2022). "Stuart Bryant re-elected as deputy mayor of Tasman District Council". Stuff . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
9. Ridout, Amy (24 February 2025). "Tasman council stalwarts standing down". The Nelson Mail . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
10. Hubbard, Catherine (5 August 2025). "Five Tasman elected members opt not to restand". Nelson Mail . The Press . Retrieved 5 August 2025.
11. "Your Mayor and Councillors". www.tasman.govt.nz. Tasman District Council . Retrieved 26 July 2025.
12. Frethey, Max (7 May 2025). "Tasman 'ready for change' – urban designer launches mayoral campaign". The Press . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
13. "2025 Tasman District Council Election Candidates" (PDF). www.tasman.govt.nz. Tasman District Council. 1 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
14. Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook. Tasman District Council. May 2025. p. 13.
15. Sivignon, Cherie (21 September 2022). "Maxwell Clark runs for Tasman mayoralty, his brother stands in Invercargill". Stuff . Retrieved 28 July 2025.
16. "Nobby Clark not impressed by brother's surprise mayoral bid". Stuff . 1 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
17. Fallow, Michael (1 August 2025). "Nobby Clark's brother standing for Invercargill and Tasman mayoralties". The Southland Times . The Press . Retrieved 2 August 2025.
18. Hubbard, Catherine. "Tasman mayoral race hots up with five contenders in the ring". Nelson Mail . The Press . Retrieved 2 August 2025.
19. Frethey, Max (12 August 2025). "King runs for Tasman mayor one last time". RNZ . Retrieved 13 August 2025.
20. "Meet the Nelson man running to be the mayor of six councils". Stuff . 12 August 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
21. Nash, Joanne (5 August 2025). "Tough battles lie ahead for mayoral hopefuls". The Press . PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
22. "Representation Review". shape.tasman.govt.nz. Tasman District Council . Retrieved 19 June 2025.
23. "New Year honours list 2023". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
24. "ACT Announces Daniel Shirley As ACT Local Candidate For Tasman" (Press release). ACT New Zealand. Scoop. 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
25. Frethey, Max (22 July 2025). "ACT Runs Tasman Candidates, But Ex-MP Goes Independent In Nelson". Scoop . Retrieved 22 July 2025.
26. "Retired Pharmacist And Business Owner, David Ross, Selected As ACT Local Candidate For Motueka Ward" (Press release). ACT New Zealand. Scoop. 24 June 2025.
27. Sivignon, Cherie (9 October 2022). "Five fresh faces feature in new-look Tasman District Council". Stuff . Retrieved 30 July 2025.
28. Evans, Julia (6 June 2019). "The Axel that keeps Chch moving". The Star . pp. 16, 18, 21. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
29. Deguara, Brittney (3 February 2020). "The Kiwis behind Wikipedia". Stuff . Archived from the original on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
30. "Julian Hall For Tasman District Council - Golden Bay". julianhall4tdc.co.nz. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
31. Hubbard, Catherine (17 July 2025). "No more summer markets for Tākaka's village green". Nelson Mail .
32. Sivignon, Cherie (28 July 2022). "Tasman district councillor David Ogilvie not seeking re-election". Stuff . Retrieved 31 July 2025.