Welcome to BayBuzz’s repository of in-depth 2025 local body election coverage.
All candidates have standing invitations to provide unfiltered information about themselves and their views on council issues. To see this material, as well as articles prepared by BayBuzz on issues pertinent to that council, click on the appropriate council logo below.
Under BayBuzz Analysis you can find our reporting on the broader issues facing all councils in the coming term, as well as our reviews of what the candidates are saying.
Explore your local council
Select one of the council logos below to view all candidates standing and issues affecting that council for the upcoming local body election.
Latest election articles / announcements
- Meet your new leaders
Note: These are “Progress Results” (e.g., not including Saturday votes in-transit), but outcomes are unlikely to change other than possibly… Read more: Meet your new leaders - BayBuzz unmatched coverage of local elections
BayBuzz mounted a strenuous effort to cover the just-concluded local body elections. Since the 1st of July (the month official nominations… Read more: BayBuzz unmatched coverage of local elections - HB councils spend $1.2 billion in 2024/25
Our councils have spent their last week tidying up their reporting for the 2024/25 financial year. They have approved their… Read more: HB councils spend $1.2 billion in 2024/25 - Steve Gibson – Māori land rates write-offs raise fairness concernsOfficial Information Requests New figures show that around 60% of all unpaid rates written off by council belong to Māori… Read more: Steve Gibson – Māori land rates write-offs raise fairness concerns
- Who wants to fund HB dams?
Not most HBRC councillors — current or future — according to our BayBuzz survey. Apart from finding hundreds of millions of… Read more: Who wants to fund HB dams? - Sally Crown – Local Democracy Under Pressure, Local Voices More Important Than EverWhen we talk about government, people often think of Wellington: Parliament, parties, and politicians trading blows across ideological lines. But… Read more: Sally Crown – Local Democracy Under Pressure, Local Voices More Important Than Ever
- Steve Gibson – Code of Conduct over reachSection 4 of Hastings District Council’s own Code of Conduct is deeply concerning. It contains provisions on “tino rangatiratanga,” “partnership,”… Read more: Steve Gibson – Code of Conduct over reach
- Are you still Undecided?
As of Tuesday 30 September, the reported voting returns indicate heaps of HB voters have yet to choose their preferred… Read more: Are you still Undecided? - Ratcliffe responds to Electrify HB
- Hastings Voter Guide error
Errors in the printing process of the Hastings information and candidate profiles has resulted in 27 profiles being left out… Read more: Hastings Voter Guide error - Candidates selling false hope
It could be called ‘pandering’. According the Cambridge Dictionary: to do or provide exactly what a person or group wants,… Read more: Candidates selling false hope - HDC candidates on rates cap
Mayoral Candidates Marcus BuddoRates should rise by about inflation, otherwise they become ever more unaffordable for people. Getting rates increases… Read more: HDC candidates on rates cap
BayBuzz Analysis
- Meet your new leadersNote: These are “Progress Results” (e.g., not including Saturday votes in-transit), but outcomes are unlikely… Read more: Meet your new leaders
- BayBuzz unmatched coverage of local electionsBayBuzz mounted a strenuous effort to cover the just-concluded local body elections. Since the 1st of… Read more: BayBuzz unmatched coverage of local elections
- HB councils spend $1.2 billion in 2024/25Our councils have spent their last week tidying up their reporting for the 2024/25 financial… Read more: HB councils spend $1.2 billion in 2024/25
- Who wants to fund HB dams?Not most HBRC councillors — current or future — according to our BayBuzz survey. Apart from… Read more: Who wants to fund HB dams?
- Are you still Undecided?As of Tuesday 30 September, the reported voting returns indicate heaps of HB voters have… Read more: Are you still Undecided?
- Hastings Voter Guide errorErrors in the printing process of the Hastings information and candidate profiles has resulted in… Read more: Hastings Voter Guide error
- Candidates selling false hopeIt could be called ‘pandering’. According the Cambridge Dictionary: to do or provide exactly what… Read more: Candidates selling false hope
