2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election
11 October 2025
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Mayoral election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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11 seats on the Queenstown-Lakes District Council 6 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2025 Queenstown-Lakes District Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in the Queenstown-Lakes District of New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.
Voters elected the mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, 11 district councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.
John Glover won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Glyn Lewers.
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]
Background
Positions up for election
Voters in the district elected the mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, 11 district councillors in 3 wards, and the members of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board.[2] They also elected several members to the Otago Regional Council.[a][3][4]
Campaign
List of candidates
Incumbents not seeking re-election
Mayor
| Candidate[8] | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Angus | None | Previously ran for mayor in 2022[10] | |
| John Glover | None | Hotel owner.[11] Ran in the 2023 Arrowtown-Kawarau by-election. | |
| Nik Kiddle | Independent | Mayoral candidate in 2019[12] | |
| Glyn Lewers | None | Incumbent mayor since 2022[6][7] | |
| Darren Rewi | None | Chair of Mana Tahuna Charitable Trust[13][14] | |
| Daniel Shand | Independent (Direct Democracy) | Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022[15] | |
Councillors
Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward
Queenstown-Whakatipu general ward returned four councillors to the district council.[2]
| Candidate[8] | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Bartlett | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
| Stephen Brent | None | Lawyer and chair of 45South Community Foundation[16] | |
| Aaron Cowie | Independent | [17] | |
| Craig "Ferg" Ferguson | None | Incumbent councillor[7] | |
| Jon Mitchell | Independent | Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022[18] | |
| Rene Smith | None | ||
| Matt Wong | Independent | Incumbent councillor[7] | |
Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward
Wānaka-Upper Clutha general ward returned four councillors to the district council.[2]
| Candidate[8] | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Bruce | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
| Lyal Cocks | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
| Craig Gasson | None | [19] | |
| Niki Gladding | Independent | Incumbent councillor for the Queenstown-Whakatipu ward[20][7] | |
| Nicola King | None | ||
| Yeverley McCarthy | None | ||
| Quentin Smith | None | Incumbent deputy mayor[6][7] | |
| Cody Tucker | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
| Thorsk G Westphal | None | ||
Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward
Arrowtown-Kawarau general ward returned three councillors to the district council.[2]
| Candidate[8] | Affiliation[b] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Q" (Samuel) Belk | None | ||
| Heath Copland | None | Previously ran for council in 2019[21] | |
| Lisa Guy | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
| Tim Manning | None | ||
| Melissa White | None | Incumbent councillor[6][7] | |
Results
Overall turnout for this election was 41.16%, with 12,927 voting papers returned.[22]
With the final results, the following candidates were declared elected:[22]
Mayor
John Glover won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Glyn Lewers.[23]
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | John Glover | 4,599 | 35.58 | |
| Independent | Glyn Lewers† | 3,244 | 25.09 | |
| Independent | Nik Kiddle | 2,108 | 16.31 | |
| Independent | Darren Rewi | 1,671 | 12.93 | |
| Independent | Al Angus | 874 | 6.76 | |
| Independent | Daniel Shand | 125 | 0.97 | |
| Informal | 36 | 0.28 | ||
| Blank | 270 | 2.09 | ||
| Turnout | 12,927 | |||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Council
Queenstown-Whakatipu Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Matt Wong† | 2,287 | ||
| Independent | Gavin Bartlett† | 2,002 | ||
| Independent | Stephen Brent | 1,924 | ||
| Independent | Jon Mitchell | 1,689 | ||
| Independent | Craig Ferguson | 1,648 | ||
| Independent | Aaron Cowie | 1,349 | ||
| Independent | Rene Smith | 904 | ||
| Informal | 4 | |||
| Blank | 55 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Wānaka-Upper Clutha Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Nicola King | 3,610 | ||
| Independent | Quentin Smith† | 3,394 | ||
| Independent | Niki Gladding | 2,863 | ||
| Independent | Cody Tucker† | 2,039 | ||
| Independent | Craig Gasson | 2,005 | ||
| Independent | Yeverley McCarthy | 2,005 | ||
| Independent | Lyal Cocks† | 1,667 | ||
| Independent | Barry Bruce† | 1,241 | ||
| Independent | Thorsk G. Westphal | 1,083 | ||
| Informal | 15 | |||
| Blank | 28 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
Arrowtown-Kawarau Ward
| Affiliation | Candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Heath Copland | 1,927 | ||
| Independent | Melissa White† | 1,730 | ||
| Independent | Samuel Belk | 1,703 | ||
| Independent | Lisa Guy† | 1,518 | ||
| Independent | Tim Manning | 1,448 | ||
| Informal | 7 | |||
| Blank | 117 | |||
| Turnout | ||||
| Registered | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| Independent hold | ||||
| Independent gain from Independent | ||||
| † incumbent | ||||
See also
Notes
- ^ Four members in the Dunstan general constituency.
- ^ a b c d 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. Queenstown-Lakes District Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[9]
References
- ^ "Elections". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Voting". Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Dunstan awarded extra regional councillor by Local Government Commission". Otago Regional Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Determination of representation arrangements to apply for the election of the Otago Regional Council to be held on 11 October 2025" (PDF). Local Government Commission. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ Newport, Peter (28 June 2024). "Esther Whitehead: Why I won't stand for council again". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Newport, Peter (17 June 2025). "Quentin Smith considers QLDC mayoralty, other councillors declare their intentions". Crux. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Elected Members". www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown Lakes District Council. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d "2025 Triennial Elections | Queenstown Lakes District Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.qldc.govt.nz. Queenstown-Lakes District Council. p. 15. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ^ Wards, Sue (11 July 2022). "Al Angus to stand for mayor again". The Wānaka App. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
- ^ "John Glover enters mayoral race with "hard reset" of QLDC". Crux. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ "Nik Kiddle to contest mayoralty". The Wānaka App. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ Taylor, Paul (9 July 2025). "Rewi steps forward". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Rewi, Darren (9 July 2025). "Darren Rewi enters QLDC mayoral race". Crux. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ Jamieson, Debbie (2 September 2022). "The Queenstown Lakes mayoral race: Who will replace Jim Boult?". Stuff. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
- ^ Chandler, Philip (29 June 2025). "Lawyer puts hat in the ring". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "QLDC candidate statement from Aaron Cowie". Crux. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ Roxburgh, Tracey (13 April 2022). "Mitchell running for mayor as independent". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
- ^ "Wānaka's Craig Gasson to run for council". Lakes Weekly Bulletin. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
- ^ Newport, Peter (29 July 2025). "Niki Gladding to stand again for the QLDC". Crux. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
- ^ Hudson, Daisy (3 July 2019). "Accountant to run for Arrowtown seat on QLDC". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
- ^ a b "2025 Triennial Elections DECLARATION OF RESULT" (PDF). www.electionz.com. Queenstown Lakes District Council. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
- ^ Todd, Katie (12 October 2025). "New Queenstown mayor: It's 'getting our own house in order'". RNZ. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
- ^ a b c d Lampp, Warwick (16 October 2025). "2025 Triennial Elections – Declaration of Result" (PDF). electionz.com. Queenstown-Lakes District Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2026.