Results of the 2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections in Southland

2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections
(Southland)

← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →

For broader coverage of this topic, see Results of the 2025 New Zealand territorial authority elections.

Elections for the territorial authorities of New Zealand will be held from 9 September until 11 October 2025 as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. 709 local councillors and 66 mayors will be elected across 66 of 67 councils.

3 territorial authorities are located in the Southland region. 3 mayors and 35 district and city councillors will be elected.

Southland District Council

2025 Southland District Council election

← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →

Mayoral election

Candidate Rob Scott Popular vote 6,734

Mayor before election Rob Scott Independent Elected mayor Rob Scott Independent

Council election

12 seats on the Southland District Council 7 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats +/– Independent 4 to be determined 8 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

2025 Southland mayoral election

2025 Southland mayoral election ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	None	Rob Scott	6,734
	None	Tong Gary	1,418
	Standing Strong & Working With Wisdom	Wendy Joy Baker	462
Informal			2
Blank			123
Total
Registered
	Independent incumbent

Mararoa Waimea ward

Mararoa Waimea ward ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Sarah Greaney	unopposed
	Independent	Tom O'Brien	unopposed
	Independent	Matt Wilson	unopposed
Registered
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent hold

Waiau Aparima ward

Waiau Aparima ward ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	None	Don Byars	1,230
	None	Michael Weusten	1,177
	None	Jaspreet Bosparai	1,050
	None	Stevey Chernishov	419
Informal			0
Blank			97
Total
Registered
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent

Ōreti ward

Ōreti ward ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	None	Christine Menzies	1,937
	None	Brian Somerville	1,685
	None	Phil Dobson	1,425
	Independent - long live common sense	Katie Allan	895
Informal			0
Blank			72
Total
Registered
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent

Waihōpai Toetoe ward

Waihōpai Toetoe ward ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	None	Paul Duffy	1,014
	None	Julie Keast	833
	None	Pamela Yorke	638
	None	Phil Scothern	318
Informal			2
Blank			23
Total
Registered
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent

Stewart Island/Rakiura ward

Stewart Island/Rakiura ward ^[1]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Jon Spraggon	unopposed
Registered
	Independent hold

Gore District Council

2025 Gore District Council election

← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →
Turnout	4,991 (54.97%)
Mayoral election
Candidate Ben Bell Nicky Davis Affiliation Independent Independent Popular vote 3,392 1,508 Percentage 67.96 30.21
Mayor before election Ben Bell Team Hokonui Elected mayor Ben Bell Independent
Council election
11 seats on the Gore District Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/– Independent 11 +5 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

2025 Gore mayoral election

2025 Gore mayoral election ^[2]

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Ben Bell	3,392	67.96
	Independent	Nicky Davis	1,508	30.21
Informal			1	0.02
Blank			90	1.80
Turnout			4,991	54.97
Registered			9,079
	Independent gain from Team Hokonui (incumbent changed affiliation)

At-large

At-large ^[2]

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Torrone Smith	2,998
	Independent	Neville Phillips	2,803
	Independent	Joe Stringer	2,647
	Independent	Steven Dixon	1,881
	Independent	Gary McIntyre	1,718
Informal			12
Blank			152
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent gain from Team Hokonui (incumbent changed affiliation)

Rural ward

Rural ward ^[2]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	John Gardyne	unopposed
	Independent	Stewart MacDonell	unopposed
Registered
	Independent win (new ward)
	Independent win (new ward)

Mataura ward

Mataura ward ^[2]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Nicky Coats	unopposed
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent

Gore ward

Gore ward ^[2]

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Mel Cupit	2,215
	Independent	Paul McPhail	2,149
	Independent	Andy Fraser	1,998
	Independent	Robert "Caveman" McKenzie	1,805
	Independent	Donna Bruce	1,387
	Independent	Jess Hudson	1,015
Informal			1
Blank			51
Turnout
Registered
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent gain from Team Hokonui (incumbent changed affiliation)
	Independent gain from Independent

Invercargill City Council

Main article: 2025 Invercargill City Council election

2025 Invercargill City Council election

← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →

Mayoral election

Candidate Tom Campbell Affiliation Independent Popular vote 6,948

Mayor before election Nobby Clark LETS GO Invercargill Elected mayor Tom Campbell Independent

Council election

12 seats on the Invercargill City Council 7 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats +/– to be determined 12 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

2025 Invercargill mayoral election

2025 Invercargill mayoral election ^[3]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote
	Independent	Tom Campbell	6,948	39.03
	Independent	Alex Crackett	5,502	30.11
	Independent	Ian Pottinger	2,322	12.71
	Independent	Ria Bond	1,803	9.87
	Independent	Tom Morton	711	3.89
	Independent	Andrew Clark	291	1.59
	Independent	Stevey Chernishov	229	1.25
	Independent	Gordon McCrone	66	0.36
Informal			75	0.41
Blank			324	1.77
Total			18,271	46.53
Registered			39,261
	Independent gain from LETS GO Invercargill

At-large

At-large ^[3]

Affiliation		Candidate	Vote	%
	Independent	Steve Broad	11,503
	Independent	Alex Crackett	10,056
	Independent	Marcus Lush	8,396
	Independent	Grant Dermody	8,321
	Independent	Trish Boyle	7,457
	Independent	Ria Bond	7,373
	Independent	Darren Ludlow	7,371
	Independent	Ian Pottinger	7,195
	Independent	Allan Arnold	6,105
	Independent	Andrea de Vries	5,920
	Independent	Lisa Tou McNoughton	5,816
	Independent	Barry Stewart	5,710
	Independent	Ian Reeves	5,689
	Independent	Lynley McKerrow	5,608
	Independent	David Meades	5,414
	Independent	Karl Herman	4,788
	Independent	Terry King	4,691
	Independent	Chris Dawson	4,510
	Independent	Jay Coote	4,137
	Independent	Pania Coote	3,904
	Independent	Tony van der Lem	3,749
	Independent	Tom Morton	3,268
	Independent	Carl Heenan	2,979
	Independent	Dan O'Connell	2,320
	Independent	Amanda Laurie	2,128
	Independent	Noel Peterson	1,301
	Independent	Carol Jasperse	1,005
Informal			51
Blank			132
Total
Registered
	Independent incumbent
	LETS GO Invercargill incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	LETS GO Invercargill incumbent
	LETS GO Invercargill incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	Independent incumbent
	LETS GO Invercargill incumbent

See also

• Results of the 2025 New Zealand regional council elections#Environment Southland

References

1. "Southland District Council 2025 Triennial Elections Final FPP Result" (PDF). Southland District Council. 16 October 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
2. Morton, Anthony (16 October 2025). "Gore District Council – 2025 Triennial Elections – Declaration of Result" (PDF). ElectioNZ.
3. "Elections 2025 Results - Final results". Invercargill City Council. 16 October 2025. Archived from the original on 4 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.