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2010 New Zealand local elections
Local elections in New Zealand
Local elections in New Zealand
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| election_name | 2010 New Zealand local elections |
| country | New Zealand |
| type | legislative |
| ongoing | true |
| previous_election | 2007 New Zealand local elections |
| previous_year | 2007 |
| next_election | 2013 New Zealand local elections |
| next_year | 2013 |
| election_date | 9 October 2010 |
| module | {{Infobox legislative election |
| embed | yes |
| election_name | Regional council elections |
| noleader | yes |
| nopercentage | yes |
| seats_for_election | 108 regional councillors across 10 regions |
| party1 | Independents |
| seats1 | 102 |
| party2 | Other local groups |
| party2_link | no |
| colour2 | orange |
| seats2 | 2 |
| party3 | Conservative local groups |
| party3_link | no |
| colour3 | |
| seats3 | 2 |
| party4 | Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand |
| seats4 | 1 |
| party5 | New Zealand Labour Party |
| seats5 | 1 |
| module | {{Infobox legislative election |
| embed | yes |
| election_name | Territorial authority elections |
| noleader | yes |
| nopercentage | yes |
| seats_for_election | ? local councillors across 67 territorial authorities |
| party1 | Independents |
| module | {{Infobox legislative election |
| embed | yes |
| election_name | Mayoral elections |
| noleader | yes |
| nopercentage | yes |
| seats_for_election | 67 mayors across 66 territorial authoritites |
| party1 | Independents |
| seats1 | 66 |
| last_election1 | 68 |
| party2 | Progressive local groups |
| party2_link | no |
| colour2 | |
| seats2 | 1 |
| last_election2 | 0 |
--
The 2010 New Zealand local elections (Māori: Nga Pōtitanga ā-Rohe 2010) were triennial elections that were held from 17 September until 9 October 2010 to elect local mayors and councillors, regional councillors, and members of various other local government bodies.
10 of New Zealand's 11 regions and all 67 cities and districts participated in the election. This was the first election held for the newly-formed Auckland Council; an amalgamation of the previous councils in the Auckland region.
Key dates
Key dates for the election as set out by the Local Government Commission and Elections New Zealand are:
| 1 November onwards | New officials sworn in |
|---|
Background
Representation changes
Auckland
This was the first time elections were held for the new Auckland Council, and the 2010 Auckland mayoral election took place concurrently.
Canterbury
The 2010 elections did not include Canterbury Regional Council. In March 2010, the National Government passed special legislation deferring Canterbury Regional Council's election until 2013 and replacing the existing councillors with appointed commissioners.{{cite web
Southern District Health Board
The 2010 elections were the first for the Southern District Health Board, which was formed from the merger of the Otago and Southland DHBs on 1 May 2010. The Southern DHB had 14 members from the two former boards, but was reduced to the standard seven elected members after the election.
Campaign
Elections
Regional councils
The regional level of government in New Zealand is organised into areas controlled by regional councils.
| Council | Electoral System | Seats | Councillors | Turnout{{Cite report | Details | Sources | 2007 | Result | *10 of 11 councils* | 108 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| url=https://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/LocalAuthorityElectionStats2010(RevisedOct2011).pdf/$file/LocalAuthorityElectionStats2010(RevisedOct2011).pdf | title=Local Authority Election Statistics 2010 | date=2011 | publisher=Department of Internal Affairs – Te Tari Taiwhenua | location=Wellington | issn=0112-3785 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120093911/https://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/URL/LocalAuthorityElectionStats2010(RevisedOct2011).pdf/$file/LocalAuthorityElectionStats2010(RevisedOct2011).pdf | archive-date=20 November 2023 | url-status=dead}} | ||
| council=Northland | source={{Cite web | title=Northland Regional Council | access-date=22 July 2025 | url=http://www.elections2010.co.nz/2010/elections/northland-regional-council | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210150409/http://www.elections2010.co.nz/2010/elections/northland-regional-council | archive-date=10 February 2013 | council link=Northland Regional Council | seats=8 | turnout=51,042 (49.2%) |
Territorial authorities
The city and district level of government in New Zealand is organised into areas controlled by territorial authorities. Some of these also have the powers of regional governments and are known as unitary authorities. The Chatham Islands have their own specially legislated form of government.
Mayors
All territorial authorities (including the unitary authorities) directly elected mayors.
| Territorial authority | Incumbent | Elected | Runner-up | Details | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mayor=Far North | incumbent =Wayne Brown | runner-up=John Goulter | source={{Cite web | title=Far North District Council | access-date=22 July 2025 |
Analysis
Leftward shift
There was a notable leftward shift in the local elections throughout the country and many notable long term centre-right mayors were replaced by left-wing mayors throughout the country.
In the new position of Auckland super-mayor, Manukau City mayor Len Brown (a Labour party politician) replaced centre-right Auckland City mayor John Banks.
In Wellington, Green Party candidate Celia Wade-Brown replaced right leaning, Kerry Prendergast.
New left-wing mayors replaced retiring incumbents in Wanganui and New Plymouth and incumbent mayors like that of Janie Annear in Timaru defeated conservative challengers.
Aftermath
Notes
References
References
- "2010 elections timeline – Local Government New Zealand".
- "Prendergast waits as country swings left".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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