The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch, New Zealand. The council is elected for three-year terms; at each election voters elect a mayor, city councillors and community board members. There are current 15 city councillors and 37 community board members across 6 community boards.
The mayor, Phil Mauger, is an independent (he ran with the slogan "Let's Get Stuff Done" on the ballot); he has generally been categorised as centre-right.[1] On the left, three city councillors affiliate exclusively to The People's Choice, one exclusively to the New Zealand Labour Party, and two to both groups. On the right, two city councillors affiliate to Independent Citizens. Eight city councillors (of various political leanings) are independents with no stated affiliations.
2025–2028 (current) term
Council
The composition of the council for the 2025–2028 term is:
Board member Jillian Frater was elected at a by-election in 2024.[2]Reuben Davidson resigned to stand as the Labour candidate for Christchurch East in the 2023 general election, which he won.[3]
Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū Banks Peninsula Community Board
Helen Broughton was chairperson from the 2022 election until 9 May 2024. She reigned amid controversy over her leadership and the state of "dysfunction" on the board. Her initial resignation was rejected, as she included the stipulation that she remain board representative for issues relating to planing. She later resigned again, that time with no stipulations (which was accepted). She remained a member of the community board, serving as deputy chairperson.[5] Marie Pollisco took over from Broughton. Polilisco was previously deputy chairperson. She has been the subject of concerns around a possible conflict of interest, as she also works for the city council's planning department.[6]
Henk Buunk was formerly affiliated to The People's Choice, but resigned the affiliation to vote against the appointment of Pollisco as chair.[7]
Gamal Fouda, the Imam of Al Noor Mosque, was a board member from the 2022 election until 31 March 2025. He moved to Australia in early 2025 and thus resigned from the board.[8] Luke Chandler was appointed to the vacancy.
Waipuna Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton Community Board
Position
Ward
Member
Affiliation (if any)
Chairperson
Halswell
Marie Pollisco
The People's Choice
Deputy Chairperson
Riccarton
Helen Broughton
Independent Citizens
Member 2022
Hornby
Sarah Brunton
Independent
Member
Hornby
Henk Buunk
Independent
Member
Halswell
Debbie Mora
Independent
Member
Riccarton
Luke Chandler
Independent Citizens
Former Members
Member
Riccarton
Gamal Fouda
The People's Choice
Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central
Ali Jones was elected at a by-election in 2023.[9] Shreejana Chhetri resigned within one month of the election, triggering a by-election.[10]
The election held via postal vote on 8 October 2016, was the first to use the new wards as a result of the representation review.
Key features of the Local Government Commission's final decision included:
16 councillors, plus the mayor, with one councillor elected from each of the 16 wards (a change from the current 13 councillors elected from six wards, each with two members, apart from Banks Peninsula, which currently has a single member) Banks Peninsula Ward stays as it is Six urban community boards One Banks Peninsula community board Overall, the number of elected members stays the same as present, at 54.
Five of the thirteen councillors did not stand for re-election in 2013.[11] Another four councillors failed to get re-elected (deputy-mayor Ngaire Button, Helen Broughton, Claudia Reid, and Aaron Keown). Hence, only four councillor were returned for another term (Yani Johanson, Jimmy Chen, Glenn Livingstone, and Jamie Gough), to be joined by nine new members plus a new mayor.[12] For the 2013–2016 term, the composition of the council is as follows:[13]
During the 2010–2013 term, the composition of the council was as shown in the table below. The Press in an editorial described the situation during the three years as often "tumultuous" and there were many calls for a cleanout of elected members at the 2013 local body elections.[15] During the term, the government appointed an overseer to council (Kerry Marshall) and "came within an ace of sacking the council completely."[15] Five city councillors (Sue Wells, Barry Corbett, Sally Buck, Tim Carter, and Peter Beck) and the mayor (Bob Parker) did not stand for re-election.[11]
During the 2007–2010 term, the composition of the council was as shown in the table below. The mayor was elected at large. There were seven wards, with six of them electing two councillors each, plus one councillor in the Banks Peninsula ward.[16]Bob Parker won his first mayoral election following the amalgamation of Christchurch City and Banks Peninsula District in 2006; Parker had been Banks Peninsula's last mayor. He defeated Megan Woods, who later became an MP for the Labour Party.[17]
Claudia Reid won her first term on the council for the Banks Peninsula ward, defeating Steve Lowndes who would later become chairman of Environment Canterbury. In the Shirley–Papanui ward, Norm Withers and Ngaire Button were elected, with Aaron Keown coming in third place. Keown has since won most subsequent elections.[17]
During the 2004–2007 term, the composition of the council was as shown in the table below. The mayor was elected at large. At the time of the 2004 local elections, there were six wards electing two councillors each.[19]Garry Moore won his third mayoral election, with Aaron Keown coming a distant second; Keown has since the 2010 local elections won most subsequent elections as a city councillor.[20]Denis O'Rourke, who had been a councillor since the 1989 local elections, stood in the Hagley–Ferrymead ward and came fifth.[21]
On 6 March 2006, Banks Peninsula District was merged with Christchurch City.[22] Banks Peninsula's outgoing mayor, Bob Parker, won the by-election for the new Banks Peninsula ward and was sworn in as a city councillor on 9 March 2006.[23]
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