2025 Napier City Council election

2025 Napier City Council election
11 October 2025
TurnoutTBD
Mayoral election
Mayor before election

Kirsten Wise
Independent

Elected mayor

TBD

Council election
All 12 ward seats on the Napier City Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 10
  Working Together[a] 2
Popular vote share of winning councillors by ward

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

The council voted to introduce a Māori ward for this election; its future will be decided in a referendum on the issue, as part of a nation-wide series of referendums.

Key dates

  • 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates will open
  • 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates will close at 12 pm
  • 9 September 2025: Voting documents will be posted and voting will open
  • 11 October 2025: Voting will close at 12 pm and progress/preliminary results will be published
  • 16–19 October 2025: Final results will be declared.[1][2]

Background

Positions up for election

Voters will elect the mayor of Napier and 12 councillors from 4 wards. They will also elect 4 members of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.[b][3][4]

Campaign

Advertisements seen along Marine Parade

Māori wards referendum

A group called For Wards Hawke's Bay formed to support the pro-ward position at the referendums in the wider Hawke's Bay region. The group will hold a meeting on 23 July in Clive chaired by regional council chair Rex Graham, with various speakers including local Presbyterian minister Jill McDonald, Hastings Māori ward councillor Heather Te Au-Skipworth, HB Multicultural Society president Rizwaana Latiff and Hayley Whittaker from the Public Service Association.[5]

Hawke's Bay Today asked the mayoral candidates whether they supported the group; mayor Wise said she had been working closely with them, Richard McGarth said he had no opinion on the group, and Nigel Simpson said he was no familiar on the group and that he was against Māori wards.[6]

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

  • Maxine Boag, councillor since 2007[7]
  • Annette Brosnan, incumbent deputy mayor and fourth-term councillor[8]
  • Hayley Browne, councillor since 2019, is instead running for a seat on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council[9]
  • Chad Tareha, first-term councillor for the Taradale ward[8]

Mayor

Candidate[10] Affiliation[c] Notes
Richard McGrath Commonsense change, needs before wants Councillor since 2014.[9][8] Also running for re-election as a councillor for the Napier Central general ward.
Nigel Simpson Independent Councillor since 2019, stood for the mayoralty in 2022 and lost to Wise.[12] Also running for re-election as a councillor for the Taradale general ward.
Kirsten Wise Independent Incumbent mayor since 2019[7]

Councillors

Te Whanga Māori ward

Te Whanga Māori ward will return two councillors to the city council.[13]

Candidate[10] Affiliation Notes
Whare Isaac-Sharland None [14]
Kirk Kia-maia Leonard None [14]
Shyann Raihania None [14]

Ahuriri general ward

Ahuriri general ward will return three councillors to the city council.[13]

Candidate[10] Affiliation Notes
Iain Bradley ACT Local [15]
Roger Brownlie Independent Retailer and orchardist[14]
Louise Burnside Independent
Sally Crown Experienced, Strong, Grounded Incumbent councillor since 2019[7][8]
Karl Goodchild Lower Rates Previously ran for council in 2022[16]
Juliet Greig None Incumbent councillor since 2022[7][8]
Lyndal Johansson Independent, fresh voice [14]
Ben Newport Independent
Keith Price Independent Incumbent councillor since 2010[7][8]

Napier Central general ward

Napier Central general ward will return three councillors to the city council.[13]

Candidate[10] Affiliation Notes
Te Kira Lawrence Independent Previously ran for council in 2022[17]
Taiatini Lepaio Independent [14]
Greg 'Grego' Mawson Working with you, for you Incumbent councillor since 2019[7][8][14]
Richard McGrath Your Community Representative Incumbent councillor since 2014.[8] Also running for mayor.
Craig Morley Get back to basics

Taradale general ward

Taradale general ward will return three councillors to the city council.[13]

Candidate[10] Affiliation Notes
Ronda Chrystal Independent Incumbent councillor since 2019[7][8][14]
Terry Cornish None Semi-retired businessman[14]
Nigel Simpson Independent Incumbent councillor since 2019.[8] Also running for mayor.
Graeme Taylor Independent Incumbent councillor since 2010[7][8][14]

Results

Final results are expected to be released by 19 October.

Mayor

Affiliation Candidate Votes %
1 mayor, to be determined
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
Independent incumbent

Council

Ward Previous Elected
Te Whanga Māori new to be determined
new
Ahuriri general Hayley Browne (Ind.)
Keith Price (Ind.)
new
Napier Central general new
new
new
Onekawa-Tamatea Annette Brosnan (WT) abolished
Richard McGrath (WT) abolished
Nelson Park Maxine Boag (Ind.) abolished
Sally Crown (Ind.) abolished
Juliet Greig (Ind.) abolished
Greg Mawson (Ind.) abolished
Taradale general Ronda Chrystal (Ind.)
Nigel Simpson (Ind.)
Chad Tareha (Ind.)
Graeme Taylor (Ind.) abolished

Te Whanga Māori ward

Affiliation Candidate Votes %
2 councillors, to be determined
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
new ward
new ward

Ahuriri general ward

Affiliation Candidate Votes %
3 councillors, to be determined
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
Independent incumbent
Independent incumbent
new ward seat

Napier Central general ward

Affiliation Candidate Votes %
3 councillors, to be determined
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
new ward
new ward
new ward

Taradale general ward

Affiliation Candidate Votes %
3 councillors, to be determined
Informal
Blank
Turnout
Registered
Independent incumbent
Independent incumbent
Independent incumbent

Referendum

Choice Votes %
Keep Māori ward to be determined
Abolish Māori ward
Turnout

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Working Together for Onekawa Tamatea
  2. ^
    • 3 representing the city exclusively.
    • 1 representing the wider region from a Māori constituency.
  3. ^ 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. Napier City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Do you have what it takes to run for Napier City Council?" (PDF). www.napier.govt.nz. Napier City Council. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Local Elections". www.hbrc.govt.nz. Hawke's Bay Regional Council. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Voting in local elections". www.hbrc.govt.nz. Hawke's Bay Regional Council. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Constituencies". www.hbrc.govt.nz. Hawke's Bay Regional Council. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Announcements you missed – #39". BayBuzz. 18 July 2025.
  6. ^ Riddell, Jack (24 July 2025). "Māori wards crucial for fair representation, says Hawke's Bay group". Hawke's Bay Today.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Hawke's Bay elections: Two councillors to step down, mayors confirm bids". RNZ. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Mayor & Councillors". www.napier.govt.nz. Napier City Council. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  9. ^ a b Hall, Linda (20 May 2025). "Napier councillor Richard McGrath running for mayor, says city is prioritising 'nice-to-haves'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e "2025 Triennial Elections | Napier City Council". www.electionz.com. electionz.com. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.napier.govt.nz. Napier City Council. p. 14. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  12. ^ Hall, Linda (8 June 2025). "Napier councillor Nigel Simpson launches second bid to be mayor". Radio New Zealand.
  13. ^ a b c d "Napier's electoral wards". www.napier.govt.nz. Napier City Council. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hall, Linda (5 August 2025). "Hawke's Bay elections guide: 114 candidates and some fierce competition ahead". Hawke's Bay Today. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  15. ^ ACT New Zealand (1 July 2025). "ACT Announces Iain Bradley As ACT Local Candidate For Napier". Scoop.
  16. ^ "The big issues: Hawke's Bay candidates put to the test". Hawke's Bay Today. The New Zealand Herald. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  17. ^ Franco, Ellie (9 August 2022). "Local Focus: Te Kira Lawrence on Candidate Camera". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
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