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2025 Otago Regional Council election

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2025 Otago Regional Council election
← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →
TurnoutTBD
Council election
All 12 constituency seats on the Otago Regional Council
Incumbents before election
Affiliation Seats Change
  Independents 10
  Greens 1
  vacant 1
First preference vote share of elected councillors by constituency

The 2025 Otago Regional Council election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in the Otago Region of New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect 12 regional councillors for the 2025–2028 term of the Otago Regional Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote system will be used.[1][2]

Key dates

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  • 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates will open.
  • 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates will close at 12pm.
  • 9 September 2025: Voting documents will be posted and voting will open.
  • 11 October 2025: Voting will close at 12pm and preliminary results will be released.
  • 17–19 October 2025: Final results will be declared.[1]

Background

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Representation review

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Following a representation review, the Otago Regional Council will be made up from 12 councillors elected from four constituencies for the 2025-2028 term: Dunedin (five councillors), Dunstan (four councillors), Molyneux (two councillors) and Moeraki (one councillor). This will be one less councillor representing Dunedin and one more councillor representing Dunstan compared to the 2022–2025 term.[3]

The council also determined to switch from first past the post voting and instead hold this election using the single transferable vote (STV) method.[4][5]

List of candidates

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Incumbents not seeking re-election

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  • Cr Alexa Forbes of the Dunstan constituency confirmed on 22 May 2025 that they would not be seeking re-election.[6][7]
  • Cr Bryan Scott of the Dunedin constituency vacated his seat in October 2024.[6]

Councillors

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Dunedin constituency

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The Dunedin constituency will return five councillors to the regional council.

Candidate[8] Affiliation[a] Notes
Hilary Calvert Vision Otago Former ACT MP and Otago regional councillor (2019-2022)[10][11]
James Cockle The Radical Action Faction
Chanel Gardner None
Phil Glassey Independent
Alex King None
Tim Mepham Independent Incumbent councillor[6][12]
Andrew Noone Independent Incumbent councillor[6][12]
Gretchen Robertson None Chairwoman and incumbent councillor[6][12]
Alan Somerville Green Incumbent councillor[13][12]
Elliot Weir Independent Incumbent councillor[6][12]

Dunstan constituency

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The Dunstan constituency will return four councillors to the regional council.

Candidate[8] Affiliation[a] Notes
Ben Farrell None
Neil Gillespie None Incumbent deputy mayor of the Central Otago District Council[14][15][16]
Matt Hollyer None AJ Hackett Bungy NZ project and innovation manager and conservationist[17]
Gary Kelliher Vision Otago Incumbent councillor[6][7][11][12]
Michael Laws Vision Otago Incumbent councillor[7][11][12]
Amie Pont Independent
Nicky Rhodes Vision Otago [11]

Moeraki constituency

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The Moeraki constituency will return one councillor to the regional council.

Candidate[8] Affiliation[a] Notes
Sophia Leon de la Barra None
Kevin Malcolm None Incumbent councillor[12] and former Waitaki District Councillor[18][6]

Molyneux constituency

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The Molyneux constituency will return two councillors to the regional council.

Candidate[8] Affiliation[a] Notes
Robbie Byars ACT Local Dairy farmer[19]
Carmen Hope Vision Otago [11]
Lloyd McCall None Incumbent councillor[6][12]
Kate Wilson None Incumbent councillor[6][12]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 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. Otago Regional Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "2025 Elections". Otago Regional Council. 30 March 2025. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  2. ^ "STV Information". www.stv.govt.nz. Department of Internal Affairs. Archived from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Dunstan awarded extra regional councillor by Local Government Commission". www.orc.govt.nz. Otago Regional Council. 3 April 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  4. ^ Littlewood, Matthew (5 July 2025). "ORC moving to system where no votes are 'wasted'". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  5. ^ "How STV Works | Understanding Single Transferable Voting". www.orc.govt.nz. Otago Regional Council. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Nine of 11 councillors throw hats in ring". Otago Daily Times. APL. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Bowden, Kim (17 July 2025). "Councillors slam STV shift as 'Dunedin-centric'". The Central App. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "2025 Triennial Elections | Otago Regional Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Candidate Handbook" (PDF). www.orc.govt.nz. Otago Regional Council. p. 14. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. ^ MacLean, Hamish (13 August 2022). "Calvert surprise omission from council candidate list". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Aimee (2 August 2025). "Countdown on for Elections 2025". The Central App. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Your Councillors". www.orc.govt.nz. Otago Regional Council. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Thriving communities sought by Greens candidates". Otago Daily Times. 27 May 2025. Archived from the original on 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  14. ^ Bowden, Kim (27 May 2025). "Gillespie seeking different seat". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  15. ^ Wilson, Aimee (26 May 2025). "Deputy Mayor to leave Central Otago District Council after nine terms". The Central App. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  16. ^ Newport, Peter (26 May 2025). "Neil Gillespie to stand for ORC – step down from CODC". Crux. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  17. ^ Roxburgh, Tracey (19 July 2025). "Hollyer's hoping for ORC seat". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  18. ^ Ashton, Andrew (17 May 2025). "Councillor to throw hat back in the ring". Otago Daily Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  19. ^ "Robbie Byars, Selected as Candidate for Molyneux Ward". www.actlocal.nz. ACT Local. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
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