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2025 Tasman District Council election

The 2025 Tasman District Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in the Tasman District of New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.

Voters elected the mayor of Tasman, 14 district councillors, and eight community board members for the 2025–2028 term of the Tasman District Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

Incumbent mayor Tim King won re-election to a third term.

A Māori ward was introduced for this election, won by Paul Morgan who was unopposed. In a referendum on its future held at this election (as part of a nation-wide series of referendums) voters elected to remove the Māori ward for future elections.

Key dates

The following key dates apply for the 2025 local election:

  • 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates opened
  • 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates closed at 12 noon
  • 9 September 2025: Voting documents were posted and voting opened
  • 11 October 2025: Voting closed at 12 noon and progress/preliminary results were published
  • 17 October 2025: Final results were declared.

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the district elected the mayor of Tasman, 14 district councillors in 5 wards, and the members of two community boards (Golden Bay and Motueka).

The district has five geographical wards, which elect thirteen councillors: four councillors for Richmond, three for Moutere–Waimea, three for Motueka, two for Golden Bay, and one for Lakes–Murchison. The mayor and the one Māori ward councillor were elected at-large.

Representation

The council voted to establish a Māori ward for the 2025 local elections in 2023. The ward was named Te Tai o Aorere Māori and elected one councillor.

The government passed legislation in 2024 on Māori wards that requires councils to hold a binding referendum alongside the 2025 elections if they established Māori wards without holding a referendum; Council voted for the Māori ward to remain for the 2025 election.

The council consulted in 2024 whether the ward representation should change. The elected members decided to make one minor change, with the Totara View area located south of Wakefield shifting from the Lakes–Murchison ward to the Moutere–Waimea ward.

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

  • Stuart Bryant (Lakes–Murchison ward), incumbent deputy mayor and district councillor since a June 1999 by-election, retired at the 2025 election.
  • Barry Dowler, incumbent councillor for the Motueka ward
  • Chris Hill, incumbent councillor for the Golden Bay ward
  • Christeen Mackenzie, incumbent councillor for the Moutere / Waimea ward
  • Dan Shallcrass, incumbent councillor for the Moutere / Waimea ward

Mayoral candidates

The first candidate for the mayoralty was Timo Neubauer, who declared his candidacy in early May 2025.

Councillors

Te Tai o Aorere Māori ward

Te Tai o Aorere Māori ward returned one councillor to the district council.

Richmond general ward

Richmond general ward returned four councillors to the district council.

Motueka general ward

Motueka general ward returned three councillors to the district council.

Moutere-Waimea general ward

Moutere-Waimea general ward returned three councillors to the district council.

Golden Bay general ward

Golden Bay general ward returned two councillors to the district council.

Lakes-Murchison general ward

Lakes-Murchison general ward returned one councillor to the district council.

Community boards

Tasman District Council has two community boards: one covering Golden Bay and the other for the Motueka ward. Four community board members were elected per board.

Results

With the final results, the following candidates have been declared elected:

Summary

Mayor

Incumbent mayor Tim King was elected to a third term, with Timo Neubauer coming in second place.

Council

Te Tai o Aorere Māori ward

Richmond general ward

Motueka general ward

Moutere-Waimea general ward

Golden Bay general ward

Lakes-Murchison general ward

Māori ward referendum

See also

Notes

References