Wellington City Council

Finally have results for Wellington.  As expected Kerry Prendergast was re-elected.  What I find more interesting is the order in which people dropped off.

Now the vote totals don’t mean much, because of the way votes are redistributed, but it does look like a much larger victory for Kerry than last time – she avoided going into a final two person run-off, as in the 9th iteration she had more than Ahipene-Mercer and Pepperell combined.

John McGrath did very badly, being the first serious candidate to drop off. Rob Goulden also did far worse than last time.

The big winner, apart from Kerry, is Ray Ahipene-Mercer who came second.  He will be a major contender next time and he also may become Deputy Mayor as Alick Shaw lost his seat.

On Council, the results are:

Northern – Hayley Wain will be delighted by topping the poll, with Helene Ritchie a distant second.  Former Councillor Ngaire Best got re-elected, but at the expense of her former colleague Robert Armstrong.

Onslow-Western – I’m delighted Jo Coughlan got elected, and even better she replaced Jack Ruben.  Andy Foster and John Morrison got re-elected, which is no surprise.

Lambton – The big news is that Deputy Mayor Alick Shaw lost his seat, and lost heavily.  Fairly harsh for a hard working and dedicated guy, but I suspect what has happened is that despite being on the Labour ticket he was not supported by many on the left, while the Labour affiliation also turned off those on the right. He may have done better as an Independent.  Iona Pannett won, and I am not really surprised.  She did campaign very hard and even door knocked on my door.  Her left wing vote will be somewhat balanced by Jo Coughlan replacing Jack Ruben, so overall balance on Council not changed much.

Eastern – The incumbents of Ray Ahipene-Mercer, Rob Goulden and Leonie Hill all returned as expected.  Goulden was third which will concern him as he stood for Mayor also.

Southern – Again incumbents returned in Celia Wade-Brown and Bryan Pepperell.  No-one else came close.

Overall the Council may be less divided than previously.  The “disruptors” have not done very well, and lost one of their number.  Also Alick could be a bit inflammatory himself, responding to them, so his departure may lessen temperatures.  But on the other hand if this is Kerry’s last term expect some posturing as people seek profile so they can win next time.