Re-elected Christchurch mayor to focus on debt, liveability

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger is grateful to be re-elected for a second term and wants to keep the city’s momentum going.

Progress results on Saturday show Mauger has won the mayoralty with 54,644 votes, a majority of almost 20,000.

His nearest rival, third-term councillor Sara Templeton, received 34,726 votes.

As progress results stand, Mauger will be joined at the council table by two new councillors and 14 returning councillors.

Mauger was celebrating the result on Saturday.

“I was always pretty confident that I’d get there, but I’ve actually been blown away by how grateful I am for the people of Christchurch to give me a mandate of that size,” he said.

Mauger thought voters were won over by the “pragmatic” way he approached issues.

“How I want to get things done, trying to cut red tape and just make Christchurch a better place to live,” he said.

“I’ve just got to try harder and make sure that we continue the momentum that Christchurch has got going forward for the next three years.

“I want Christchurch to be – and it’s certainly getting there – the sporting and events capital of the country.”

Mauger said one of the biggest challenges facing the new council was debt.

“We’ve got to look at debt. Debt is all right in some people’s eyes a little bit and I’m happy to have some debt, but I feel we’ve got too much. So if we pay down some debt and have got a little bit more up our sleeve to use ratepayer money towards doing the things that people want.”

Mauger was elected mayor in 2022 but had served on the Christchurch City Council since 2019.

His campaign was focused on delivering practical results and planning for Christchurch’s long-term and prosperous growth.

Sara Templeton, who resigned her council seat to run for mayor, thanked her campaign team and supporters in a Facebook post.

“While today’s result wasn’t what we hoped for, I’m deeply proud of the positive, future-focused campaign we ran and so grateful to everyone who believed in a better future for our city,” Templeton said.

“The twelve years I’ve spent serving the communities of the Heathcote Ward and our wider city have been incredibly rewarding and motivating. From the rebuild of our community facilities to the creation of the stunning Coastal Pathway, it’s been a privilege to play a part in the growth and renewal of Ōtautahi.

“Going into this campaign, I always knew it would be a tough ask to beat an incumbent mayor, but it was important that residents had a real choice. We ran a campaign focused on the issues that matter: fixing infrastructure, building strong communities, and creating a fairer, greener, more connected and resilient city ready to face the challenges ahead.”

The next highest polling mayoral candidate was Thomas Healey, who received 1547 votes.

Individual ward progress results:

Three sitting city councillors were re-elected unopposed: Aaron Keown for Harewood Ward, Mark Peters for Hornby Ward and Sam MacDonald for Waimairi Ward.

rnz.co.nz