The 2025 Dunedin City Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Dunedin, New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.
Voters elected the mayor of Dunedin and 14 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025âÂÂ2028 term of the Dunedin City Council. Postal voting and the single transferable vote system were used.
Councillor Sophie Barker won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Jules Radich.
Voters in the city elected the mayor of Dunedin, 14 city councillors at-large, the members of six community boards, and the members of the Oamaru Licensing Trust. They also elected 7 members of the Otago Regional Council.
On 17 June 2025, Dunedin climate advocate Bruce Mahalski held a public meeting for DCC council and mayoral candidates to field questions on climate change issues including a commercial train service, the city's Zero Carbon Plan 2030, and relations between the DCC and Otago Regional Council (ORC). Mayoral candidates Cr Sophie Barker and Andrew Simms, and city council candidates Cr Marie Laufiso, Cr Jim O'Malley and Lily Warring spoke at the meeting, which was attended by 50 people.
One key election issue has been the proposed landfill site at Smooth Hill. While the incumbent Mayor Jules Radich has supported the Smooth Hill landfill site, mayoral candidate Andrew Simms and his Future Dunedin ticket have opposed the new landfill site.
On 23 September, 15 left-wing DCC and ORC candidates established an alternative progressive alliance called "The People's Hub" to advocate on shared values such as climate action, social justice, traffic speed reductions and reviving passenger trains. The group consisted of candidates from the Labour, Green parties, the Radical Action Faction and Building Kotahitaka including Cr Steve Walker, Cr Marie Laufiso, Cr Alan Somerville and ORC candidate Alex King. The group established a hub at the corner of George Street and Moray Place in Dunedin to promote their causes and encourage people to vote.
Incumbent mayor Jules Radich would stand again as an independent candidate. Other independent candidates included councillors Sophie Barker, Carmen Houlahan, Mandy Mayhem, and Lee Vandervis. Candidates that stood under a ticket were Marie Laufiso as the Building Kotahitaka candidate, Andrew Simms as the Future Dunedin candidate and Mickey Treadwell as the Green candidate.
In mid June 2025, former Team Dunedin councillors Andrew Whiley and Kevin Gilbert endorsed Sophie Barker as mayoral candidate.
Fourteen councillors were elected at-large to the city council.
Councillor Sophie Barker was confirmed as mayor, with Andrew Simms coming in second place. Incumbent mayor Jules Radich came in fourth place, behind councillor Lee Vandervis.
Following the death of Cr and former Mayor Jules Radich, the Dunedin City Council announced that a by-election would be held on 12 May 2026.