At a time when some regions are struggling to encourage candidates to come forward for local government elections, Hamilton has seen a surge of nominations.
Fifty-one (51) candidates have put themselves up for election when nominations closed at noon yesterday, Friday 1 August. Of the 12 candidates contesting the mayoralty, eight are vying for a ward seat as well. (Updated, 4 Aug: Number of candidates has been now revised to 52)
Apart from a Mayor, the Hamilton City Council structure consists of six West General Ward councillors, six East General Ward councillors and two Kirikiriroa Maaori Ward councillors.
The candidates for Hamilton’s 2025 local election have been provisionally released, subject to verification by the Electoral Officer next week.
The provisional list of candidates standing for Mayor is: CARRINGTON, Lily; DU PLOOY, Rudi; GIELEN, Jack; HUATA, Maria; KARALUS, Rachel; MACINDOE, Tim; MCDONALD, John; STRATFORD, Roger; TAYLOR, Dave; TEMONI-SYME, Guy Wayne; THOMSON, Sarah, and TUPAEA-WARREN, Roma.
The complete provisional list of other candidates can be viewed here. Candidate profiles will be published on Council’s website in early August.
Voting packs will start arriving in the mail from Tuesday 9 September. Voters are being urged to post their ballots by Tuesday 7 October to guarantee they will arrive in time to be counted.
During the voting period, voting papers can also be hand-delivered to Council’s office in Garden Place or dropped off at ballot box locations around the city.
Voting closes at midday on Saturday 11 October. Votes received after this time won’t be counted. There is no online voting.
Alongside the election, Hamiltonians will be asked to vote in a binding poll on whether the city’s Kirikiriroa Maaori Ward should continue beyond the 2028 election.
The final deadline for enrolling to vote in the election and the binding poll is Friday 10 October.
