Menu
Ohiwa Harbour Ohiwa Harbour

Elections

Local body elections 2025

The next Bay of Plenty Regional Council local election will be held on Saturday 11 October 2025.

Local elections are held every three years. In the Bay of Plenty, residents and other ratepayers have the chance to vote for 14 Bay of Plenty Regional Councillors representing Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Whakatāne, Kawerau, Ōpōtiki and a small part of Taupō.

Key dates

  • Friday 4 July 2025: candidate nominations open, roll opens for public inspection
  • Friday 1 August 2025: candidate nominations close at 12 noon, roll closes
  • Tuesday 9 September 2025: voting documents posted out, voting opens
  • Saturday 11 October 2025: voting closes at 12 noon
  • Saturday 11 October 2025: preliminary results available
  • Thursday 16 – Sunday 19 October 2025: declaration of final results

How do I enrol to vote?

You can enrol as a resident if you:

  • are 18 years or older,
  • are a New Zealand Citizen or permanent resident,
  • have lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.

If you’re enrolled to vote for the parliamentary elections, then you’re automatically enrolled for Council elections too.

Visit vote.nz, email enrol@vote.nz, call 0800 36 76 56, or freetext your name and address to 3676 to enrol to vote or to update your enrolment details.

How to enrol as a non-resident ratepayer

If you own property in the Bay of Plenty but live elsewhere, you may be able to enrol as a non-resident ratepayer elector and vote in both areas. You can check your eligibility and enrol by visiting the ElectioNZ ratepayer enrolment portal.

Past elections

Final results - Friday 14 October 2022

Eastern Bay of Plenty General Constituency - two required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Malcolm CAMPBELL 6,408 7,536 7,651
Doug LEEDER 4,785 5,649 5,716
       
Sarah Jane VAN DER BOOM 3,515 4,263 4,358
Russell ORR - Independent 2,483 2,903 2,961
Mawera KARETAI 1,886 2,319 2,382
       
INFORMAL 15 18 18
BLANK 429 555 569

Malcolm CAMPBELL and Doug LEEDER are declared elected.

Rotorua General Constituency - two required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Kevin WINTERS 6,361 6,950 7,102
Lyall THURSTON 5,980 6,483 6,623
       
Tim SMITH - Independent 4,672 5,159 5,286
Mark GOULD - Rotorua District Residents & Ratepayers 4,675 5,073 5,190
Katie Priscilla PAUL 3,305 3,626 3,719
Radhika DAHYA 2,484 2,747 2,817
       
INFORMAL 24 26 27
BLANK 940 1,104 1,139

Lyall THURSTON and Kevin WINTERS are declared elected.

Māuao Māori Constituency - one required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Matemoana MCDONALD 1,102 1,266 1,281
       
Buddy MIKAERE 776 894 901
       
INFORMAL 4 5 5
BLANK 52 63 64

Matemoana MCDONALD is declared elected.

Tauranga General Constituency - five required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Stuart CROSBY - Independent 11,798 12,277 12,316
Ron SCOTT 10,477 10,942 10,983
Paula THOMPSON 9,573 9,989 10,029
Andrew VON DADELSZEN 8,582 9,009 9,050
Kat MACMILLAN - Vision Tauranga 8,281 8,788 8,834
       
Mark WASSUNG 8,041 8,485 8,539
David LOVE 7,533 7,825 7,848
Murray GUY - Tauranga City Democracy 6,932 7,319 7,342
Matt COONEY - Independent 6,505 6,808 6,825
Jason NICHOLLS-FAITELE - Independent 5,806 6,175 6,198
Phil ROSS 5,648 5,980 6,022
Jos NAGELS - Independent 5,146 5,435 5,465
Larry BALDOCK 4,426 4,608 4,628
Murray WHITE 4,256 4,512 4,529
Mark FOGERTY - Independent 3,362 3,554 3,567
Stephen WHEELER 1,629 1,722 1,734
Bryan DEUCHAR 1,613 1,711 1,718
       
INFORMAL 54 60 60
BLANK 37 38 37

Stuart CROSBY, Kat MACMILLAN, Ron SCOTT, Paula THOMPSON and Andrew VON DADELSZEN are declared elected.

Ōkurei Māori Constituency - one required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Te Taru WHITE 1,590 1,728 1,809
       
Raina M MEHA 1,583 1,735 1,791
       
INFORMAL 1 1 1
BLANK 305 349 362

Te Taru WHITE is declared elected.

Western Bay of Plenty General Constituency - two required
Candidate Votes received - Progress (8 October) Votes Received - Preliminary (10 October) Votes received - final
Jane NEES 7,162 8,199 8,264
Ken SHIRLEY 5,546 6,335 6,380
       
Sean NEWLAND - Independent 3,576 4,175 4,217
Julian FITTER 2,768 3,259 3,290
       
INFORMAL 18 18 18
BLANK 924 1,077 1,087

Jane NEES and Ken SHIRLEY are declared elected.

Kohi Māori Constituency - one required

As the number of candidates did not exceed the number of vacancies, Toi Kai Rākau ITI has been duly declared elected to the Kohi Māori Constituency seat.

Official election results

Official election results include all ordinary and special votes.

Electoral expenses and donations 2019 - returned candidate forms

Voter turnout

BOPRC Representation Review 2024

Every six years councils must review how communities are represented in the make-up of their council. A representation review looks at the structures in place, including the number of constituencies (electoral areas) and their boundaries, the number of elected members (councillors) representing each constituency and the names of our General and Māori constituencies.

The 2024 Representation Review is now complete and has resulted in Council having 14 Councillors representing 4 general constituencies (Western Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, Rotorua and Eastern Bay of Plenty) and 3 Māori constituencies (Mauao, Ōkurei and Kōhi).

To read the Local Government Commissions determination please visit Bay-of-Plenty-Regional-Council-Determination-2024.pdf

For general information about the project please visit Participate BOPRC.