A look into who's running in Christchurch's local body elections

Eight people are running for mayor this time around, with 40 people running to be members of council.

 

In alphabetical order, the eight people running for mayor are as follows:

 

Businessman Blair Anderson last ran for mayor in 2019, having previously run four times before that. Running as an Independent, he describes himself as a liberal democrat, having previously spoken around issues such as better access for dogs in the city and cannabis legalisation. In 2023, he ran for government in the national elections for the Wigram electorate under the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.

 

White supremacist Phil Arps is running under the banner Independent Nationalist New Zealand. He gained notoriety in 2019 after sharing the video of the March 15 attacks to 30 people. He also requested the video to be edited to portray a "kill count". In June 2019, he was charged with  'distributing an objectionable publication' and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He previously had an unsuccessful bid to run in a parent election to the Te Aratai College board of trustees in 2022.

 

Tubby Hansen, Christchurch's perennial candidate who has run in every election since 1969. Running again under the Economic Euthenics banner, he has previously spoken about issues such as housing affordability and the political left targeting him with invisible rays. In a 2022 interview with The Spinoff, he said he liked to raise issues that the other candidates don't.

 

Self-employed gardener Thomas Healey, running as an independent, is keen to promote all things green for the city. He speaks on how more land should be used for gardens and spaces for growing in the city. In May 2024, Healey advocated for parts of the red zone to become community gardens in a submission to the council for the city's 10-year Long Term Plan. He founded the Christchurch Foraging Club, where groups go out into green spaces to find wild edible weeds and mushrooms. "If it's just there, why not get it?" he says. He says Christchurch is losing sites and areas to do foraging and wants to use his campaign to promote this issue.

Current Mayor Phil Mauger is seeking re-election for his second term in the role. Key campaign issues this time round for Mauger are future-proofing water infrastructure, protecting the environment and ensuring key infrastructure upgrades like Te Kaha stadium remain on track. In 2022, he ran with the promise of reducing rates, a promise he has struggled to maintain. Three years ago, he said rates would only be raised by 3-4%, but for the 2025/2026 year, rates have risen by 6.6%. In 2025, he's campaigning to 'make rates affordable'. Mauger was previously the director of Mauger Contracting, an earthmoving & construction company operating in Christchurch since 1970.

 

Nikora Nitro is running again after a failed bid in 2022. He describes himself as "one of the best kapa haka tutors in Christchurch" with campaign issues involving monthly city-wide festivals, an increase in businesses & yearly visits from the Māori Kuini. In 2012, he was convicted of receiving commercial sexual services from a 16-year-old boy. As part of his campaign, he aims to do Facebook Lives in various locations. In his first one, he described multiple media outlets as being biased towards other candidates.

 

Sara Templeton is giving up her council seat in Heathcote to put her time into running for mayor. Her campaign highlights three pillars: city, people and future. The three-term city councillor has talked about how she wishes to run a grassroots community campaign, getting most of her support from volunteers and donors. When asked why she was running for mayor earlier this year, she said, "I really want to be part of leading a council and a city that is future-focused and making sure that we are both environmentally and financially stable as well as resilient to our future challenges."

 

Peter Wakeman is another serial candidate, this will be his 7th time running in a local body election. The retired businessman running as an independent has previously spoken passionately about the environment and is staunchly against the pest poison 1080. As a vegan, he has promoted healthy eating, has had an emphasis on local food growing efforts and the red zone being converted into green space.

Out of the 16 wards, 13 will be contested. Hornby, Harewood and Waimari Wards received nominations only from their incumbent councillors. Meaning councillors Mark Peters, Aaron Keown & Sam MacDonald respectively will return for the next council term. All incumbent councillors are running for re-election, minus Heathcote councillor Sara Templeton, who's putting all her efforts into running for mayor, and Fendalton's James Gough, who announced last Wednesday he will become the executive director of the central city's Terrace alongside his uncle Antony Gough.

 

Riccarton and Central Ward are tied for the most councillor nominations with six hopefuls.

 

Spreydon Ward has four candidates.

 

Three candidates are running in the Linwood, Coastal and Fendalton Wards.

 

Heathcote, Burwood, Banks Peninsula, Cashmere, Halswell, Innes & Papanui Wards are all two-horse races.

 

When voting comes around, the order of the names listed on voting papers in Christchurch will be randomly generated for each separate paper, a trend since 2004.

 

Election day is October 11.