Dunedin City Council

Dunedin City Council

*Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti*
Dunedin City Council ; Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti
	Dunedin City Council logo
Type
Type	City council of Dunedin
History
Founded	6 March 1989
Leadership
Mayor	Sophie Barker, Independent ; since October 2025
Deputy Mayor	Cherry Lucas, Independent
Chief Executive Officer	Sandy Graham ; since 12 October 2020
Structure
Seats	15
Political groups	Independent (11); Labour (1); Green (1); Future Dunedin (1); Building Kotahitaka (1);
Length of term	3 years
Elections
Voting system	Single Transferable Vote
Last election	11 October 2025
Next election	October 2028
Motto
	Maiorum Institutis Utendo
Meeting place
	Dunedin Town Hall, The Octagon
Website
	dunedin.govt.nz

The Dunedin City Council (Māori: Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the 132,800 people of Dunedin.^[2] Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules Radich, who succeeded Aaron Hawkins. The council consists of a mayor who is elected at large, and 14 councillors elected at large, one of whom gets chosen as deputy-mayor. The councillors are elected under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system in triennial elections, with the most recent election held on 8 October 2022.^[3]

Composition

Dunedin Municipal Chambers and Civic Centre. The Municipal Chambers (left) serve as the city's official town hall; council offices are largely contained in the more modern Civic Centre (right).

2025–2028

The composition of the council for the 2025–2028 term is:^[4]

Name	Position
Sophie Barker	Mayor	Independent
Cherry Lucas	Deputy Mayor^[5]	Independent
Andrew Simms	Councillor	Future Dunedin
Lee Vandervis	Councillor	Independent
Jules Radich	Councillor	Independent
Marie Laufiso	Councillor	Building Kotahitaka
John Chambers	Councillor	Your Health Candidate
Russell Lund	Councillor	Independent
Brent Weatherall	Councillor	Independent
Steve Walker	Councillor	Labour
Mickey Treadwell	Councillor	Green
Mandy Mayhem	Councillor	Independent
Benedict Ong	Councillor	Independent
Christine Garey	Councillor	Independent
Doug Hall	Councillor	Independent

2022–2025

During the 2022–2025 term the composition of the council was as follows:

Name	Position
Jules Radich	Mayor	Team Dunedin
Cherry Lucas	Deputy Mayor	Independent
Bill Acklin	Councillor	Independent
Sophie Barker	Councillor	Independent
David Benson-Pope	Councillor	Independent
Christine Garey	Councillor	Independent
Kevin Gilbert	Councillor	Team Dunedin
Carmen Houlahan	Councillor	Independent
Marie Laufiso	Councillor	Independent^[b]
Jim O'Malley	Councillor	Independent
Mandy Mayhem-Bullock	Councillor	Independent
Lee Vandervis	Councillor	Independent
Steve Walker	Councillor	Labour
Brent Weatherall	Councillor	Team Dunedin
Andrew Whiley	Councillor	Team Dunedin

2019–2022

During the 2019–2022 term the composition of the Council was as follows:

Name	Affiliation
Aaron Hawkins (Mayor)	Green Dunedin
Christine Garey (Deputy Mayor)	Independent
Sophie Barker	Independent
David Benson-Pope	Independent
Rachel Elder	Independent
Doug Hall	Independent
Carmen Houlahan	Independent
Marie Laufiso	Green Dunedin
Mike Lord	Independent
Jim O'Malley	Independent
Jules Radich	Independent
Chris Staynes	Independent
Lee Vandervis	Independent
Steve Walker	Labour
Andrew Whiley	Independent

2016–2019

During the 2016–2019 term the composition of the Council was as follows:^[7]

Name	Affiliation
David Cull (Mayor)	Independent
Lee Vandervis	Independent
Andrew Whiley	Independent
Aaron Hawkins	Green Dunedin
David Benson-Pope	Independent
Chris Staynes (Deputy Mayor)	Independent
Conrad Stedman	Independent
Doug Hall	Independent
Rachel Elder	Independent
Jim O'Malley	Independent
Kate Wilson	Independent
Mike Lord	Independent
Damian Newell	Independent
Marie Laufiso	Green Dunedin
Christine Garey	Independent

2013–2016

During the 2013–2016 term, the composition of the Council was as follows:^[8]

Mayor	Dave Cull
Councillors – Central Ward	Hilary Calvert Richard Thompson Lee Vandervis Jinty MacTavish David Benson-Pope Aaron Hawkins Chris Staynes Neville Peat Doug Hall John Bezett Andrew Whiley
Councillors – Mosgiel-Taieri ward	Kate Wilson Mike Lord
Councillor – Waikouaiti Coast-Chalmers ward	Andrew Noone

2010–2013

During the 2010–2013 term, the composition of the Council was as follows:

Mayor	Dave Cull
Councillors – Central Ward	Bill Acklin John Bezett Fliss Butcher Neil Collins Paul Hudson Jinty MacTavish Chris Staynes Teresa Stevenson Richard Thompson Lee Vandervis Colin Weatherall
Councillors – Mosgiel-Taieri ward	Syd Brown Kate Wilson
Councillor – Waikouaiti Coast-Chalmers ward	Andrew Noone

Community boards

The council has created six local community boards under the provisions of Part 4 of the Local Government Act 2002,^[9] each with six elected members and one councillor appointed by the council:

Strath Taieri Community Board
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board
Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board
Saddle Hill Community Board
West Harbour Community Board, and
Otago Peninsula Community Board.

These community boards are intended to provide advice to the city council regarding the interests of the communities they represent.^[10]

Notes

^ Includes Mayor
^ Previously a member of Green Dunedin.^[6]

References

^ "2025 Triennial Elections Declaration of Result" (PDF). Electionz. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
^ "Subnational population estimates - Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
^ "2022 Elections". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ https://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council/electoral-information/2025-election-results
^ https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575796/sophie-barker-choses-dunedin-deputy-mayor-meeting-with-councillors-already
^ John, Mark (29 July 2024). "Laufiso resigns from Green Party over Tana issue". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
^ "2016 – Dunedin City Council Final Results and Returns of Electoral Donations and Expenses". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
^ "Dunedin City Council Final Results". Dunedin City Council. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
^ "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 (as at 01 July 2017)". www.legislation.govt.nz. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ "Community boards". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

External links

Official website

[2] Includes Mayor

[8] Previously a member of Green Dunedin.^[6]

[Barker-1] "2025 Triennial Elections Declaration of Result" (PDF). Electionz. Retrieved 17 October 2025.

[NZ_population_data_2018-3] "Subnational population estimates - Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 29 October 2025.

[4] "2022 Elections". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

[5] ttps://www.dunedin.govt.nz/council/electoral-information/2025-election-results

[6] ttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575796/sophie-barker-choses-dunedin-deputy-mayor-meeting-with-councillors-already

[7] John, Mark (29 July 2024). "Laufiso resigns from Green Party over Tana issue". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 29 July 2024.

[9] "2016 – Dunedin City Council Final Results and Returns of Electoral Donations and Expenses". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 31 March 2017.

[10] "Dunedin City Council Final Results". Dunedin City Council. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2013.

[11] "Local Government Act 2002 No 84 (as at 01 July 2017)". www.legislation.govt.nz. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

[12] "Community boards". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

[2]