Hawke's Bay voters chose to remove the Māori ward. Photo: LDR
All sitting Hawke's Bay regional councillors who ran for re-election have won back their seats, progress results on Election Day suggested.
The endorsement of the current leaders, who faced massive crises in their previous term - including Cyclone Gabrielle - was laid bare in Hawke's Bay Regional Council's election results for 2025, on Saturday 11 October.
Progress results did not include special votes or votes received on Saturday morning. Preliminary results will be announced on Monday and will include votes received on Saturday, but special votes are still not included.
Current councillor Neil Kirton and chair Hinewai Ormsby were in the boxseat for election in the Ahuriri ward, while Jerf van Beek won the Ngāruroro ward. Jock Mackintosh and Sophie Siers were the top polling councillors in the Heretaunga ward and retain their seats as a result.
There will still be several fresh faces on council, due to seats being vacated by Martin Williams, Xan Harding, Charles Lambert and new Central Hawke's Bay mayor Will Foley.
Louise Parsons, who was outspoken in her criticism over HBRC's response to Cyclone Gabrielle, will now sit at the table, contributing to decisions on it.
The race for the Tamatea-Central Hawke's Bay seat vacated by Foley will go to the wire, with Tony Kuklinski and Tim Aitken separated by 17 votes.
Voters in the council's Māori ward referendum chose to remove it.
Ahuriri/Napier Regional Constituency (three vacancies) Votes Received
Neil Kirton 9325
Louise Parsons 7984
Hinewai Ormsby 7267
Hayley Browne 6809
Paul Bailey 4917
Syed Khurram Iqbal 4049
The voter return percentage was 40.41 percent, being 16,698 votes, excluding votes in transit to the processing centre and special votes.
Ngāruroro Regional Constituency (one vacancy) Votes Received
Jerf Van Beek, 3948
Marcus Ormond, 2262
The voter return percentage was 46.29 percent, being 6564 votes, excluding votes in transit to the processing centre and special votes.
Tamatea/Central Hawke's Bay Regional Constituency (1 vacancy) Votes Received
Tony Kulinsky 1845
Tim Aitken 1828
Keri Ropiha 699
The voter return percentage was 48.33 percent, being 4636 votes, excluding votes in transit to the processing centre and special votes.
Heretaunga/Hastings Regional Constituency (three vacancies) Votes Received
Jock Mackintosh 8274
Sophie Siers 8154
Conrad Waitoa 6380
Bruce Mackay 5724
The voter return percentage was 38.94 percent, being 13,623 votes, excluding votes in transit to the processing centre and special votes.
Māui ki te Raki Māori Regional Constituency (one vacancy) Votes Received
Michelle McIlroy (nee Lewis) 1455
Shelton White 822
The voter return percentage was 25.61 percent, being 1402 votes, excluding votes in transit to the processing centre and special votes.
Māui ki te Tonga Māori Regional Constituency (one vacancy)
Thompson Hokianga is elected unopposed.
Māori Constituency Poll (one vacancy) Votes Received
Remove the Māori constituencies 24,507
Keep the Māori constituencies 20,236
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
