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2025 Christchurch mayoral election

2025 Christchurch mayoral election
← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →
Mayor before election

Phil Mauger

 Elected mayor

TBD

The 2025 Christchurch mayoral election is an upcoming local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Christchurch, New Zealand, as part of that year's city council election and nation-wide local elections. Voters will elect the mayor of Christchurch for the 2025–2028 term. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system will be used. The incumbent mayor Phil Mauger is running for a second term. Councillor Sara Templeton is running against him.

Key dates

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The timeline of electoral events are:[1]

  • Friday, 4 July – Candidate nominations open, roll opens for public inspection
  • Friday, 1 August – Nominations close at midday, electoral roll closes
  • Friday, 8 August – Candidates announced
  • Tuesday, 9 September – Ballots posted out, voting opens
  • Saturday, 11 October – Voting closes at midday
  • Sunday, 19 October – Final results declared

Background

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Further information: 2022–2025 term of the Christchurch City Council

Campaign

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In October 2024, Sara Templeton was the first candidate who announced their candidacy. A city councillor since the 2016 local elections, she would not stand again in the Heathcote ward to focus on the mayoral campaign.[2]

The second person to announce their candidacy was Phil Mauger, the incumbent mayor, in January 2025. He has been a city councillor since the 2019 local elections and mayor since the 2022 elections.[3] Mauger had campaigned on a 4 percent rates cap in 2022, but presided over a 9.9 percent rise in the 2024–25 financial year. To lower rates rises, he proposes asset sales.[4]

List of candidates

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Candidate[5] Photo Affiliation[a] Notes
Blair Anderson None Has run for council five times. Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2019.[7]
Philip Arps Independant Nationalist New Zealand White supremacist who was convicted for sharing footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings.[8][9][7]
Tubby Hansen Economic Euthenics Perennial candidate since 1969.[10][9][7] Also running as a councillor in the Spreydon ward.
Thomas Healey Independent [9][7]
Phil Mauger Let's Get More Stuff Done Incumbent mayor since 2022[11][12][13][7]
Nikora Nitro Independent Former member of the Mana Party. Criminally convicted in 2012 for soliciting sex from a teenager.[14] Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022.[15][9][7]
Sara Templeton Our City. Our People. Our Future. Councillor for the Heathcote ward since 2016[11][12][7]
Peter Wakeman Independent Retired businessman. Standing for the mayoralty for the seventh time.[9][7] Also running for the Auckland mayoralty.[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ 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. Christchurch City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "2025 elections". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  2. ^ Law, Tina (12 October 2024). "Sara Templeton announces bid for Christchurch mayoralty". The Press. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  3. ^ Law, Tina (21 January 2025). "Mayor Phil Mauger wants another crack at making rates 'affordable'". The Press. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  4. ^ Smits, Dylan (27 March 2025). "The mayor, the challenges and the road to re-election". The Star. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  5. ^ "2025 Triennial Elections | Christchurch City Council". electionz.com. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Pukapuka Aratohu Kaitonopōti | Candidate Handbook" (PDF). ccc.govt.nz. Christchurch City Council. p. 23. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Mathias, Shanti (8 August 2025). "Serious, serial and everyone in between: Who's running for mayor in Christchurch?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  8. ^ "'Unrepentant, hardcore white supremacist' jailed after sharing terror video". Stuff. 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e Smits, Dylan (30 July 2025). "White supremacist Philip Arps makes Chch mayoral bid". Star News. Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  10. ^ Gates, Charlie (1 October 2022). "Tubby Hansen, the man who has run unsuccessfully in every Christchurch election since 1969". Stuff. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  11. ^ a b Manhire, Toby (7 February 2025). "Who is in and who is out in the big mayoral races of 2025?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  12. ^ a b Campbell, Georgina (7 April 2025). "Mayoral races heat up: Can Whanau and Brown get a second term?". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger to stand for second term". RNZ. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  14. ^ Sachdeva, Sam (26 March 2012). "Nitro quits party after conviction". Stuff. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  15. ^ Kenny, Jake (7 October 2022). "Christchurch mayoral candidate defrauded Government fund of $35,000". Stuff. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  16. ^ Donnell, Hayden (12 August 2025). "The motley crew of contenders trying to take down Auckland mayor Wayne Brown". The Spinoff. Retrieved 13 August 2025.