1995 Invercargill mayoral election

The 1995 Invercargill mayoral election was held on 14 October 1995 as part of the 1995 New Zealand local elections, and was conducted under the First Past the Post system.

1995 Invercargill mayoral election

← 1993 14 October 1995 1998 →
Turnout	25,507 (66%)[1]
Candidate David Harrington Tim Shadbolt Party Independent Independent Popular vote 14,247 6,449 Percentage 55.85 25.28
Mayor before election Tim Shadbolt Elected mayor David Harrington

Background

Incumbent mayor Tim Shadbolt had been elected in a 1993 by-election as a result of the death of Eve Poole in 1992. His re-election bid was unsuccessful, with ILT chairman David Harrington getting more than double his number of votes. This was seen as part of a wave of conservatism in the south. With 50% of the vote counted, Shadbolt conceded at 7 pm that night.^[1] After his loss Shadbolt promised to run again in the next election.

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	David Harrington	Lou Harrison-Smith	Lindsay Hazley	Barry Hodge	Terry King	Don Mowat	Tim Shadbolt	Undecided
The Southland Times[2]	25–28 September 1995	506	± 4.4%	34.19%	2.57%	4.94%	0.79%	1.58%	5.34%	19.37%	29.64%

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1995 Invercargill mayoral election^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Harrington	14,247	55.85
	Independent	Tim Shadbolt	6,449	25.28	−8.07
	Independent	Don Mowat	1,821	7.13
	Independent	Lindsay Hazley	1,560	6.11
	Independent	Lou Harrison-Smith	609	2.38
	Independent	Terry King	510	1.99
	Independent	Barry Hodge	311	1.21
Majority			7,798	30.57
Turnout			25,507	66	−13.45