2019 New Zealand local elections


The 2019 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections to select local government officials and district health board members. Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, a "general election of members of every local authority or community board must be held on the second Saturday in October in every third year" from the date the Act came into effect in 2001, meaning 12 October 2019.
Most of the local elections were run by one of two companies on behalf of individual local bodies. Sometimes the company also provides the electoral officer.

Election schedule

Key dates relating to the general election were as follows:
1 July 2019Electoral Commission enrolment campaign starts.
19 July 2019Nominations open for candidates.
Rolls open for inspection at council offices and other sites locally.
16 August 2019Nominations close at 12:00.
Rolls close.
21 August 2019Election date and candidates' names publicised by electoral officers.
20–25 September 2019Voting documents delivered to households. Electors can post the documents back to electoral officers as soon as they have voted.
12 October 2019Polling day — The voting documents must be at the council before voting closes at 12:00.
Preliminary results will be available as soon as possible afterwards.
17–23 October 2019Official results declared

Results

In Auckland, Phil Goff was re-elected Mayor and at least 16 of the city's 20 councillors retained their seats, with two new councillors winning seats which were vacated by retirement. In Hamilton, incumbent mayor Andrew King lost to Paula Southgate, who previously challenged him in 2016, while four controversial councillors were voted out of office. In Wellington incumbent mayor Justin Lester was unseated by Andy Foster, who received a high-profile endorsement from filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson. The election also marked the first time a Green Party member was elected to serve as a mayor in New Zealand, with Aaron Hawkins being elected Mayor of Dunedin.

Mayoral election summary

Regional council chairs

There are sixteen regions for local government purposes. Eleven are administered by regional councils and five are administered by unitary authorities: Auckland, Gisborne, Tasman, Nelson, and Marlborough. In unitary authorities, the local mayor is the head of government. In the remaining regional councils, the elected members vote for their chair and deputy.

Detailed information