2025 Napier City Council election

2025 Napier City Council election
11 October 2025
Turnout21,325 (45.6%)
Mayoral election
 
Candidate Richard McGrath Kirsten Wise Nigel Simpson
Affiliation Independent Independent Independent
Popular vote 10,185 6,763 3,989
Percentage 47.76% 31.71% 18.71%
Mayor before election

Kirsten Wise
Independent

Elected mayor

Richard McGrath
Independent

Council election
11 seats on the Napier City Council
6 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/–
Independent

11 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2025 Napier City Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Napier, New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.

Voters elected 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 were used.

Councillor Richard McGrath won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Kirsten Wise.

In the prior term, the council had voted to introduce a Māori ward for this election; in a referendum on its future held at this election (as part of a nation-wide series of referendums) voters elected to remove the Māori ward for future elections.

Key dates

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

Background

Positions up for election

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

Campaign

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 held 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 McGrath said he had no opinion on the group, and Nigel Simpson said he was not familiar with 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, instead ran 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[b] Notes
Richard McGrath Commonsense change, needs before wants Councillor since 2014.[9][8] Also ran 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 ran 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 returned 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 returned 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 returned 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 ran for mayor.
Craig Morley Get back to basics

Taradale general ward

Taradale general ward returned 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 ran for mayor.
Graeme Taylor Independent Incumbent councillor since 2010[7][8][14]

Results

Mayor

Councillor Richard McGrath won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Kirsten Wise.[18]

2025 Napier mayoral election[19]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Independent Richard McGrath 10,185 47.76
Independent Kirsten Wise† 6,763 31.71
Independent Nigel Simpson 3,989 18.71
Informal 12 0.06
Blank 376 1.76
Turnout 21,325 45.57
Registered 46,796
Independent gain from Independent
† incumbent

Council

Ahuriri General Ward

Ahuriri general ward[19]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Independent Roger Brownlie 3,547
Independent Keith Price† 2,946
Independent Sally Crown† 2,584
ACT Local Iain Bradley 2,325
Independent Louise Burnside 1,980
Independent Karl Goodchild 1,805
Independent Lyndal Johansson 1,764
Independent Juliet Greig† 1,610
Independent Ben Newport 1,158
Informal 9
Blank 118
Turnout
Registered
Independent win (new ward)
Independent win (new ward)
Independent win (new ward)
† incumbent

Napier Central General Ward

Napier Central general ward[19]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Independent Richard McGrath (withdrawn) 3,685
Independent Greg Mawson† 3,038
Independent Craig Morley 2,342
Independent Te Kira Lawrence 1,983
Independent Taiatini Lepaio 1,370
Informal 2
Blank 85
Turnout
Registered
Independent win (new ward)
Independent win (new ward)
Independent win (new ward)
† incumbent

Taradale General Ward

Taradale general ward[19]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Independent Graeme Taylor† 4,560
Independent Ronda Chrystal† 4,311
Independent Nigel Simpson† 3,860
Independent Terry Cornish 3,085
Informal 1
Blank 163
Turnout
Registered
Independent hold
Independent hold
Independent hold
† incumbent

Te Whanga Māori Ward

Te Whanga Māori ward[19]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Independent Shyann Raihania 1,049
Independent Whare Isaac-Sharland 764
Independent Kirk Leonard 566
Informal 0
Blank 45
Turnout
Registered
Independent win (new ward)
Independent win (new ward)

Māori Ward Poll

ChoiceVotes%
I vote to keep the Māori ward8,84443.14
I vote to remove the Māori ward11,65656.86
Total20,500100.00
Valid votes20,50096.13
Invalid/blank votes8253.87
Total votes21,325100.00
Source: [19]

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    • 3 representing the city exclusively.
    • 1 representing the wider region from a Māori constituency.
  2. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "Napier mayoral race: Richard McGrath ousts Kirsten Wise". RNZ. 12 October 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Lampp, Warwick (16 October 2025). "2025 Triennial Elections – Declaration of Result" (PDF). electionz.com. Napier City Council.
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