Progress results announced for PNCC election & Māori Ward referendum

Published on 11 October 2025

Voting for Palmerston North City Council and the Māori Ward referendum closed at 12pm today, and the progress results are now known.

These results take into account approximately 85% of the returned voting papers, but exclude any votes made today that are still in transit to the electoral officer and does not yet include the count of special votes cast.

While these results give a good indication of who has been elected, and the referendum result, the outcome may change once all voting papers have been counted. Preliminary results will be released tomorrow, and final results are to follow by Friday 17 October.

Mayor – City wide (at large)

Grant Smith

Councillor - Te Hirawanui General Ward (at large) (13)

• William George Wood
• Mark Arnott
• Orphée Mickalad
• Karen Naylor
• Lew Findlay
• Rachel Bowen
• Vaughan Dennison
• Brent Barrett
• Lorna Johnson
• Hayden Fitzgerald
• Leonie Hapeta
• Zulfiqar Butt
• Billy Meehan

Councillor – Te Pūao Māori Ward (at large) (2)

• Debi Marshall-Lobb
• Bonnie Kuru

Referendum

The Te Pūao Māori Ward will remain.

Read the full results