Local elections 2025 - Candidate information

Information for candidates

Local elections will be held on 11 October 2025. This is your opportunity to become a candidate to sit at the decision-making table of Waikato Regional Council. Nominations for candidates close Friday, 1 August, at midday.

Nominations process

Be eligible to stand
Read the candidate handbook
Nominations require two nominators. Each nominator must have the consent of the candidate and appear on the electoral roll for the constituency in which the candidate is standing
Have nominators submit nomination using the form provided by Waikato Regional Council
Include with nomination form the deposit ($200 including GST), candidate profile statement and photograph
Submit form before noon, 1 August 2025

Get started

Everything you need to know about standing for local election for Waikato Regional Council is in our Candidate Handbook.

Our 2025 Pre-Election Report provides information to promote public discussion about the issues facing the council. It will be available here mid-July.

Candidate information sessions are being hosted by territorial authorities in the Waikato region. We will be at these sessions to answer any questions you may have about standing for regional council.

View our Democracy Dave short video series about the council's democratic process in "a nutshell".

Relevant forms and supporting information

Candidate nomination form Campaign signage handbook Meet the candidates Notification of pre-election report

Candidate nomination form Campaign signage handbook Meet the candidates Notification of pre-election report

Campaigning

There are not enough New Zealanders currently participating in the local government process – either by having their say on the issues that matter, by voting or standing for office. There are many reasons for low levels of engagement – lack of knowledge of the work councils do, a perceived low ability to influence change, lack of competition between candidates, and lack of knowledge about the candidates and their views. Here are some things you can do to inform yourself on the matters of the regional council and to get votes.

Attend a council or committee meeting.
Talk to our electoral team about the role of councillor.
Know what’s important to your community. Talk to people, connect with community groups, attend public meetings.
Know what you stand for and be able to articulate it.

Candidate video profiles

We will be inviting all candidates for Waikato Regional Council local elections to film a candidate profile early August at our Hamilton office. Candidates will need to be ready to respond to three questions, which will be provided in the invitation after nominations have been confirmed. The video profiles will be available online as part of our information for voters. They will accompany the candidate profiles supplied as part of the nomination process.

Policy NZ profiles

Policy.nz will be gathering essential information about the candidates in New Zealand’s local elections 2025 for voters to compare and make an informed decision on who they will vote for. Once nominations have been confirmed, candidates will be contacted to answer questions about their background, motivations and priorities for a profile on Policy.nz under the respective constituencies for Waikato Regional Council.

What else do we do?

What we do

Improving water quality, enhancing the health of our coastal and marine ecosystems, protecting and restoring our unique native plants and animals and the ecosystems they live in, keeping people safe on our roads and waterways as well as from floods and other hazards, and providing passenger transport services.

We do all this, and more.

Learn more about our mahi