Invercargill city has elected Nobby Clark as its new mayor.

Polls closed at midday today in the local body elections across Aotearoa.

Progress results delivered to Invercargill City Council just after midday today show Nobby Clark has 6537 votes, followed by Marcus Lush with 3785 votes.

Progress results include all votes cast up to late Friday, however, it does not include votes cast late on Friday or on Saturday, and does not include special votes.

Invercargill City Council Deputy Electoral Officer Michael Morris said with only 2104 ordinary votes and a number of special votes still to be counted, the result was clear.

“We are delighted to see yet another strong voter turnout from our passionate Invercargill community,” Morris said.

“There were a large number of candidates for Mayor and it was a tight race but our city has spoken and we are pleased to announce Nobby Clark will be our new Mayor.”

Morris said Invercargill and Council would bid a fond farewell to long-serving Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt.

“Sir Tim Shadbolt is New Zealand’s longest-serving Mayor. His mayoralty spanned over 24 years and we know the Invercargill community has a strong affection and gratitude for his hard work and commitment to the role and the city over the past two decades.

“On Tuesday, I was coming home from Wellington, I told my taxi driver I was going to Invercargill and he immediately asked ‘how is Mayor Tim?’. He had been in his taxi once, and I think that’s the impact of Tim.”

Sir Tim also missed out on a seat as a councillor (see below).

Progress Results

Mayoralty

CLARK, Nobby 6,537

LUSH, Marcus 3,785

BIDDLE, Toni 3,707

LUDLOW, Darren 1,814

SHADBOLT, Tim 847

BOND, Ria 533

MORTON, Tom 266

CHERNISHOV, Stevey 131

WALTER, Jacqueline 78

PETERSON, Noel James 72

Invercargill city has also elected its new Councillors for the next triennium.

Progress results delivered to Invercargill City Council today show sitting councillors Nigel Skelt, Darren Ludlow, Ian Pottinger and Allan Arnold will remain on council.

They will be joined by new Councillors Tom Campbell and Grant Dermody.

Progress results include all votes cast up to late Friday, however, it does not include votes cast late on Friday or on Saturday, and does not include special votes.

Invercargill City Council Deputy Electoral Officer and Manager Governance and Legal Michael Morris said with 2104 ordinary votes and a number of special votes still to be counted, some candidates were too close to call at this stage.

Those candidates are Ria Bond, Trish Boyle, Lesley Soper, Peter Kett, Alex Crackett, Graham Lewis, Barry Stewart, Terry King, Kerry Hapuku, Rebecca Amundsen, Lisa Tou-McNaughton and Rick Murrell.

Sir Tim Shadbolt will not be returned as Mayor or Councillor.

Preliminary results are expected on Sunday morning and will include 2104 votes that were cast late on Friday and on Saturday, but not special votes.

“Our preliminary results should provide a clearer picture but it’s likely it won’t be confirmed until our final results are provided in the coming days, after special votes have been counted.”

The Bluff Community Board results show, at this stage, that the members Tammi Topi and Ray Fife will be returned, and joined by new members Justin Sutherland, Terina Stockwell

and Sam Graham. These results are subject to change after further votes are counted.

The Invercargill Licensing Trust results are also subject to change after further votes are counted.

Morris said he was pleased with the turnout and the interest the community had in this election.

“We have a passionate and vocal community who were also motivated to cast their vote and help guide the city through the next three years,” he said.

Progress Results

Council - At Large (12 vacancies)

SKELT, Nigel Dean 7,366

CAMPBELL, Tom 7,363

LUDLOW, Darren 6,989

DERMODY, Grant 6,822

POTTINGER, Ian 6,812

ARNOLD, Allan 6,706

BOND, Ria Independent 6,238

BOYLE, Trish 5,929

SOPER, Lesley 5,794

KETT, Peter Warren 5,681

CRACKETT, Alex 5,675

LEWIS, Graham 5,578

STEWART, Barry 5,575

KING, Terry 5,448

HAPUKU, Kerry 4,960

AMUNDSEN, Rebecca 4,872

TOU-MCNAUGHTON, Lisa 4,629

MURRELL, Rick 4,172

BROWN, Kevin 3,962

MULROONEY, Kevin 3,845

HERMAN, Karl LETS GO Invercargill 3,756

POTTINGER, David 3,641

SMITH, Bevan 3,565

MARSHALL, Peter 3,400

GRABER, Kari 3,136

SHADBOLT, Tim 2,928

ALLEN, Dene 2,910

LOAN, Malcolm 2,802