Independent Citizens

Independent Citizens
Chairperson	Jason Middlemiss
Political position	Centre-right
Colours	Yellow
Christchurch City Council	2 / 17
Christchurch Community Board members	6 / 36
Website
independentcitizens.org.nz
Politics of New Zealand Political parties Elections

Independent Citizens are a local-body political ticket in Christchurch, New Zealand. They contest seats on the Christchurch City Council and on the city's community boards. ^[1]

The group's members lean centre-right politically. ^[1] The group serves as the main group for the city's right wing, acting in opposition to the city's centre-left group The People's Choice. ^[2]

Positions and platform

The group advocates for traditional centre-right positions, such as lowering rates and spending only on "the basics". ^[3]

According to Independent Citizens councillor Sam MacDonald, the group's constitution forbids whipping of group members to vote a certain way. ^[2]

The group is associated with the National Party, though this association is not official. ^[4]

History

2022–2025 term

For the 2022–2025 term, the group had two elected members, James Gough (Fendalton ward) ^[5] and Sam MacDonald (Waimairi ward). ^{[6] [7]} They also had six community board members. ^[8]

2025 election

In the 2025 election, they put forward 3 candidates for city council. Incumbent Sam MacDonald was re-elected unopposed. ^[9]

Lists of representatives

2022–2025 term

Initially two Independent Citizens candidates were elected as councillors and six were elected to community boards. Luke Chandler was appointed to the Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton community board following the resignation of People's Choice-affiliated member Gamal Fouda. ^[10]

Independent Citizens elected members for the 2022–2025 term included: ^{[‡ 1] [10]}

Ward	Name	Photo
Fendalton	James Gough
Waimairi	Sam MacDonald
Community board	Subdivision	Name
Waimāero Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood (in majority)	Harewood	Jason Middlemiss
		Linda Chen
	Waimairi	Shirish Paranjape
	Fendalton	David Cartwright
		Bridget Williams
Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton (in minority)	Riccarton	Helen Broughton
		Luke Chandler

Electoral performance

Election	# of candidates					Winning candidates
	Mayor	Council	Board	Regional council	Total	Mayor	Council	Board	Regional council	Total
2022	–	4	?	–		–	2 / 4	?	–
2025	–	3	8	–	11	–	2 / 3	6 / 8	–	8 / 11 72.7%

References

1. Gill, Sinead (10 April 2025). "Appointment of 'mate' to community board bad for democracy, critic says". The Press .
2. Law, Tina (15 January 2022). "Party politics: A blessing or a curse for local government?". Stuff .
3. Law, Tina; Harris, Dominic (18 October 2019). "Diverse new group to take seats around Christchurch City Council table". Stuff .
4. Gunn, Andrew (27 August 2022). "Local elections heating up, not in a good way". The Press .
5. "Fendalton Ward". Independent Citizens. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
6. "Waimairi Ward". Independent Citizens. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
7. "Deputy Mayor and Councillors". Christchurch City Council . Retrieved 29 May 2025.
8. "Representatives". Independent Citizens. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
9. "2025 Triennial Elections | Christchurch City Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
10. Herbert, Delphine (3 March 2025), "Imam Gamal Fouda leaving Al Noor Mosque", RNZ , retrieved 7 March 2025

Official results

1. "Declaration of Result" (PDF). Christchurch City Council . 8 October 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 May 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.