Phil Mauger has been confirmed as the new mayor of Christchurch.
The result was confirmed just after 2pm to Mauger and his team.
Voting numbers have now been released.
The current vote count shows the one-term councillor and former construction company owner has a narrow majority, with 50,086 votes.
His nearest rival, David Meates, received 46,315 votes.
The next highest-polling mayoral candidate was Mark Chirnside, who received 4164 votes.
He revealed what he did when he got the news.
"I punched the air, I thought 'this is fantastic'," he said.
"The hard work starts now."
Mauger said he wanted to start that work this weekend.
"What I want to do tomorrow is get all the new councillors togetter to have a pow-wow," he said.
Then next week he would meet them all one-on-one for an hour to talk about their "dreams and aspirations".
"How can we all work together and make sure we are pulling the rope in the same direction to make Christchurch the best place to live, work, invest and play in the whole country," he said
Meates is scheduled to comment on the result this afternoon from a function in the central city.
Mauger thanked him for his efforts in the campaign.
"Thank you for coming in and keeping me honest, for want of a better word," he said.
To have someone of David's calibre run shows the commitment we have in Christchurch to local democracy.
"It's always good to run with someone strong... It's always better to have a race and win well."
In a statement Mauger said he was "very pleased that my message of regaining people's trust in Council and getting things done has resonated with so many people".
"I have consistently said during the campaign that I do not believe there is any place for party politics around the Council table.
"I promise to be a Mayor who listens to all ideas and works with people to get the best outcomes for our city.''
Mauger takes over from Lianne Dalziel who, after almost a decade in the mayoral chains, decided not to run again in this year's election.
In the role since 2013, Dalziel has steered Christchurch through the earthquake recovery, mosque attacks, fires, floods and the pandemic.
