2025 Upper Hutt City Council election

The 2025 Upper Hutt City Council election was a local election to be held from 9 September to 11 October in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, as part of that year's nation-wide local elections. Voters elected the mayor of Upper Hutt, 10 city councillors, and other local representatives for the 2025–2028 term of the Upper Hutt City Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

2025 Upper Hutt City Council election

← 2022 11 October 2025 2028 →

Mayoral election

Mayor before election Wayne Guppy Independent Elected mayor Peri Zee Independent

Council election

11 seats on the Upper Hutt City Council 6 seats needed for a majority

Party Seats +/– Independent 11 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Urban planner and transport advisor Peri Zee won the mayoralty. Zee defeated the incumbent of 24 years Wayne Guppy, who had been seeking a ninth term as mayor.

Key dates

• 4 July 2025: Nominations for candidates opened
• 1 August 2025: Nominations for candidates closed at 12 pm
• 9 September 2025: Voting documents were posted and voting opened
• 11 October 2025: Voting closed at 12 pm and progress/preliminary results will be published
• 16–19 October 2025: Final results will be declared.^[1][2]

Background

Positions up for election

Voters in the city elected the mayor of Upper Hutt, 10 city councillors, and members of the Rimutaka Licensing Trust.^[1] They also elected several members of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.^[a][3]

Māori ward

In November 2023, the Upper Hutt City Council had voted by six to five to introduce a Māori ward for the 2025 and 2028 elections.^[4] However, following a change in legislation regarding Māori wards, the council voted in August 2024 to rescind this decision. It thus avoided a requirement to hold a referendum on retaining the ward alongside this election.^[5][6]

Campaign

List of candidates

Incumbents not seeking re-election

• Dylan Bentley, councillor since 2019^[7]
• Chris Carson, incumbent councillor^[8]
• Incumbent councillor Blair Griffiths is running for mayor and will not stand again for a position as councillor^[9]

Mayor

Candidate[10]	Photo	Affiliation[b]		Notes
Blair Griffiths			None	Incumbent councillor[9][8]
Wayne Guppy			None	Incumbent mayor since 2001[12][8]
Emma Holderness			Independent	Incumbent councillor since 2022. Also running for re-election as a councillor.[13]
Angela McLeod			None	Previously ran for the mayoralty in 2022.[14] Also running to be a councillor.
Hellen Swales			Change we need, voice you deserve	Incumbent deputy mayor, also running as a councillor[9][15]
Peri Zee			None	Urban planner and transport adviser[12][16]

Councillors

Ten councillors will be elected at-large to the city council.^[17]

Candidate[10]	Affiliation[b]		Notes
Ramil Adhikari		None	Previously ran for council in 2022[18][19]
Michael J Anderson		None
Euan Andrews		None
Heather Blissett		None
Dave Burt		Hope resilience and a shared future
Matt Carey		Independent	Incumbent councillor[8]
Wade Cashmore		Independent
Gurpreet Dhillon		None	[19]
Henry Grey		None
Tofa Gush		Our Community
Bill Hammond		Independent	Incumbent councillor[8]
Emma Holderness		Independent	Incumbent councillor since 2022.[8] Also running for mayor.[13]
Teresa Homan		Independent
Rachel Tukaki Kingi		None
Nigel Mander		Serve the community
Kylie McKenna		Independent
Angela McLeod		None	Also running for mayor
David (DJ) McNicholas		None
Heather Newell		None	Incumbent councillor[8]
Hellen Swales		The voice you deserve	Incumbent deputy mayor,[8] also running for mayor[9]
Brett Thomson		None
Tracey Ultra		Independent	Incumbent councillor[8]
Daniel Welch		Backing the Future of Upper Hutt
Dave Wheeler		None	Incumbent councillor[8]
Corey White		Independent

Results

Overall turnout was 50.06%, with 16,728 voting papers returned.^[20]

With final results, the following candidates were declared elected:^[20]

Mayor

In an upset, urban planner and transport advisor Peri Zee defeated incumbent mayor of 24 years Wayne Guppy, who had been seeking a ninth term in office.^[21][22]

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
Note: * indicates an incumbent
	None	Peri Zee	5,479	32.8%
	None	Wayne Guppy*	3,931	23.5%
	None	Angela McLeod	1,941	11.6%
	None	Blair Griffiths	1,892	11.3%
	Independent	Emma Holderness	1,796	11%
	Change we need, voice you deserve	Hellen Swales	1,466	9%
Informal			15	0.1%
Blank			113	0.7%
Majority			1,548	9.3%
Turnout			16,728
	Independent gain from Independent

Council

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
Note: * indicates an incumbent
	Independent	Emma Holderness*	9,251
	Independent	Tracey Ultra*	7,903
	None	Angela McLeod	7,651
	None	Dave Wheeler*	6,836
	Independent	Corey White	6,807
	The voice you deserve	Hellen Swales*	6,424
	Independent	Bill Hammond*	6,117
	Backing the Future of Upper Hutt	Daniel Welch	5,963
	Independent	Matt Carey*	5,892
	None	Gurpreet Dhillon	5,777
	Our Community	Tofa Gush	5,710
	None	Euan Andrews	5,552
	None	Henry Grey	5,381
	None	Rachel Tukaki Kingi	5,182
	None	Brett Thomson	5,029
	Independent	Kylie McKenna	4,565
	None	Heather Newell*	4,248
	Hope resilience and a shared future	Dave Burt	3,853
	Independent	Wade Cashmore	3,760
	None	Ramil Adhikari	3,733
	None	Michael J Anderson	3,460
	None	David (DJ) McNicholas	3,164
	Independent	Teresa Homan	3,087
	None	Heather Blissett	2,878
	Serve the community	Nigel Mander	2,844
Informal			51
Blank			172
Turnout
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent
	Independent hold
	Independent gain from Independent

See also

• 2025 Greater Wellington Regional Council election
• 2025 Hutt City Council election
• 2025 Wellington City Council election
• 2025 Porirua City Council election
• 2025 Kāpiti Coast District Council election

Notes

1. • 1 member representing the city.
   • 1 member partially from the city in the Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori constituency.
2. A candidate may leave their affiliation blank, run as an independent, or run with an affiliation to an organisation, local body ticket or political party. Upper Hutt City Council does not allow whānau, hapū, or iwi details to be used for the affiliation.^[11]