2016 Christchurch mayoral election

The 2016 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held on 8 October. The incumbent mayor, former Labour MP and government Minister Lianne Dalziel, who was first elected in the 2013 mayoral election was reelected, winning a commanding 83.9% of formal votes cast in the poll.[1] However New Zealand's local government elections in 2016 were characterized by a nationwide low participation rate which saw only 41.8% of enrolled voters cast a ballot in the election. Christchurch's turnout rate was particularly low with only 38.3% of enrolled voters actually voting, down from 52.2% in 2010.[2]

2016 Christchurch mayoral election

8 October 2016
Turnout	90,137 (37.4%)
Candidate Lianne Dalziel John Minto Party Independent Keep Our Assets Popular vote 75,524 13,117 Percentage 83.86 14.57
Mayor before election Lianne Dalziel Elected Mayor Lianne Dalziel

Candidates

There were three candidates:[3][4]

• Lianne Dalziel (Best for Christchurch), incumbent, who formally declared her intention to run for a second term on 25 April.[5]
• Tubby Hansen (Economic Euthenics), perennial candidate
• John Minto (Keep Our Assets), veteran political activist, who announced his candidacy on 12 July[6]

The left-leaning ticket, The People's Choice, represented on the outgoing city council by six councillors, declared that they would not stand a candidate in opposition to Dalziel – and councillor Paul Lonsdale, who came second in the 2013 mayoral campaign, acknowledged that Dalziel had done well in her first term and that he would not challenge her.[7]

Debates

The Press hosted a debate between Dalziel and Minto at the Cardboard Cathedral on 20 September,[8] moderated by its editor, Joanna Norris.[9] The following day, Guyon Espiner interviewed Dalziel and Minto on RNZ National's Morning Report.[10]

Generation Zero hosted a debate at the University of Canterbury's Ilam campus on 22 September 2016.[11][12]

Results

2016 Christchurch mayoral election[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Best for Christchurch	Lianne Dalziel	75,524	83.86	+12.29
	Keep Our Assets	John Minto	13,117	14.57	+14.57
	Economic Euthenics	Tubby Hansen	1,414	1.57	+1.21
Majority			62,407	69.30	+20.48
Total valid votes			90,055	99.91
Informal votes			82	0.09	-0.10
Turnout			90,137	37.4	-5.2
Registered electors			241,210

By ward

Source:[15]

	Dalziel		Minto		Hansen		Total valid votes
Ward	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Banks Peninsula	2,395	78.96	612	20.18	26	0.86	3,033
Burwood	5,171	86.69	718	12.04	76	1.27	5,965
Cashmere	5,633	81.95	1158	16.85	83	1.21	6,874
Central	2,986	76.68	838	21.52	70	1.80	3,894
Coastal	4,694	80.69	1037	17.83	86	1.48	5,817
Fendalton	6,066	88.65	671	9.81	106	1.55	68,43
Halswell	6,039	87.85	715	10.40	120	1.75	6,874
Harewood	5,670	87.91	693	10.74	87	1.35	6,450
Heathcote	6,037	82.34	1208	16.48	87	1.19	7,332
Hornby	4,285	82.40	803	15.44	112	2.15	5,200
Innes	4,104	83.01	767	15.51	73	1.48	4,944
Linwood	4,015	78.79	987	19.37	94	1.84	5,096
Papanui	5,161	86.09	728	12.14	106	1.77	5,995
Riccarton	3,514	82.82	628	14.80	101	2.38	4,243
Spreydon	4,363	82.35	852	16.08	83	1.57	5,298
Waimairi	5,391	86.99	702	11.33	104	1.68	6,197
Total	75,524	83.39	13,117	15.03	1,414	1.58	90,055

References

1. "Christchurch City Council 2016 Triennial Elections Preliminary Result" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. 9 October 2016.
2. "Preliminary voter turnout 2016". Local Government New Zealand. LGNZ. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
3. Stylianou, Georgina; Truebridge, Nick (12 August 2016). "Hats in the ring". The Press. p. A7. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
4. Stylianou, Georgina (2 September 2016). "Mayoral candidates give their vision for Christchurch". The Press. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
5. "Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel running for second term". The New Zealand Herald. 25 April 2016.
6. Stylianou, Georgina (12 July 2016). "Keep Our Assets run John Minto as Christchurch mayoral candidate". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
7. Ensor, Blair; Spink, Emily (26 April 2016). "I won't walk away from city – Dalziel". The Press. pp. A1, A3. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
8. Law, Tina (20 September 2016). "Christchurch's cost share agreement to be debated publicly, Mayor says". The Press. Fairfax New Zealand. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016.
9. Matthews, Philip (10 September 2016). "Lianne's last campaign".
10. "Christchurch mayoralty rivals Dalziel and Minto debate issues". RNZ National. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
11. "Christchurch Mayoral Debate: A climate-smart Christchurch". University of Canterbury. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016.
12. "Christchurch mayoral debate sold out". The Press. Fairfax New Zealand. 20 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016.
13. "Christchurch City Council – 2016 Triennial Elections – Declaration of Result" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
14. "Christchurch City Council – 2016 Triennial Elections – Election Returns". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
15. "Christchurch City Council 2016 Triennial Elections Mayoralty – votes by ward" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 3 February 2017.