Auckland Council’s 2025 candidate pool skewed older, male and European compared with the city’s adult population.

A report by Auckland Council’s Strategic Advice and Research Unit analysed self-reported survey data from 340 of the 435 unique candidates who stood in the 2025 elections, a response rate of almost three-quarters.

The analysis was based on final results in November 2025, before the Manukau District Court declared the Papatoetoe subdivision result void in December 2025.

Women made up 37 per cent of candidates, down from 43 per cent in 2022.

Just 12 per cent of candidates were aged 18 to 34.

Those aged 65 and over accounted for 17 per cent, down from 22 per cent in 2022.

Seventy-one per cent of candidates identified as European, compared with 51 per cent of Auckland’s adult population.

Māori made up 17 per cent of candidates, compared with 10 per cent of the adult population.

Sixteen per cent identified with an ethnicity in the broad Asian category, compared with 31 per cent of the adult population.

The report notes increased representation among elected Māori and Pacific members compared with 2022.

Sixty-nine per cent of candidates were born in New Zealand, compared with 51 per cent of the adult population.

Twenty-nine per cent could hold an everyday conversation in at least one language other than English.

Seven per cent reported a disability, impairment or long-term condition, the same proportion as the adult population.

Voter turnout varied across local boards.

In Rodney, 20,089 of 56,192 electors voted, a turnout of 36 per cent.

Turnout in Hibiscus and Bays was 33 per cent, meaning most enrolled voters did not take part.

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