The 2025 Christchurch mayoral election was a local election 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 elected the mayor of Christchurch for the 2025âÂÂ2028 term. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used. Incumbent centre-right independent mayor Phil Mauger ran for a second term, with incumbent centre-left independent councillor Sara Templeton as his main challenger; there were six other candidates for the position.
Mauger defeated Templeton and was re-elected.
The timeline of electoral events were:
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.
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. Mauger had campaigned on a 4 percent rates cap in 2022, but presided over a 9.9 percent rise in the 2024âÂÂ25 financial year. To lower rates rises, he proposes asset sales.
Mauger won the election by a large margin, with Templeton coming second.