Olympic champion Mahé Drysdale becomes Tauranga's new mayor

Mahé Drysdale is set to become Tauranga's mayor with progress results in. Photo: Alex Cairns/Bay of Plenty Times.

Tauranga’s new mayor Mahé Drysdale is "excited and daunted" about leading New Zealand’s fifth-largest city.

Progress results for the Tauranga City Council election have been released this afternoon, based on 82% of the vote. These are expected to be updated with preliminary results tomorrow afternoon and finalised results next week.

Based on the votes received up until 5pm yesterday, Drysdale has 13,419 votes, Greg Brownless 8577, Tina Salisbury 7145 and Ria Hall 5740.

As of Friday, the number of votes returned stood at 33,998 with special votes and votes returned on Saturday still being counted.

Two former councillors have been re-elected in the wards, early results show. Pāpāmoa ward councillor Steve Morris was part of the sacked 2019 council. Arataki ward councillor Rick Curach will serve his seventh term on council after missing out in 2019.

Drysdale, the two-time Olympic rowing gold medallist, said he was very much looking forward to working with the nine councillors that he will lead.

"It’s a bit different to normal where in the past when I’ve succeeded that’s the end of a journey, whereas this one, it’s very much the start.

"We’ve got some really good talent."

The progress results showed people wanted to Tauranga move forward, Drysdale said.

"I’m very pleased that the voters have picked a number of very good people. I’m looking forward to working with them."

"I’m excited about starting from a completely clean slate and doing, local government differently where we engage with the community and deliver for them."

Drysdale said the campaign was different to what he expected because he thought it would be "more attacking and negative". This is despite some people’s concerns about him living in Cambridge and allegations from fellow mayoral candidate and uncle, Doug Owens that he was backed by the Urban Task Force [UTF] a local property group.

Drysdale previously told the Bay of Plenty Times UTF had not contributed to his election campaign.

"What people are telling me is this is a great city, and we just need to keep going and improve some of those small issues that can make the city fantastic."

These issues included traffic and congestion and previous councils' inability to take action.

"We’ve done plans after plans after plans. Now we’re actually going to do something about it, so we don’t just keep kicking the can down the road."

Asked how he planned to celebrate Drysdale said he would get the team together that helped him win and he hoped to catch up with some of the other winning candidates.

"It won’t be a huge celebration because we’ve got a lot of work to do."

Drysdale, who became a financial adviser after retiring from sport, said he was future-focused and wanted to lead a new generation of strong and accountable leadership that would create a modern and attractive city.

Two-time Olympic rowing gold medallist Mahé Drysdale is set to become the new mayor of Tauranga. Photo: Mark Mitchell

Raised in Tauranga and living in Cambridge, he said the impact of population growth, major infrastructure builds and redevelopment of the centre city were issues the new council would need to address.

Drysdale said he would use a multi-faceted approach to address Tauranga’s housing shortfall.

"I would look to encourage high-density housing in and around Tauranga city centre, helping bring back vibrancy to the city," he previously told Local Democracy Reporting.

"It’s important the council has a robust plan, is efficient in processing and cuts red tape to enable people to deliver the plan as easily, efficiently and cheaply as possible."

The 45-year-old is married to Juliette and they have three children aged 4, 7 and 9. He works at Forsyth Barr in Tauranga two days a week and said he has seen the challenges Tauranga faces first-hand.

Drysdale is the grandson of Sir Robert (Bob) Owens who was Tauranga mayor from 1968 to 1977 and mayor of Mount Maunganui borough from 1971 to 1974.

The election is Tauranga City Council’s first since 2019, and the group elected will serve a four-year term in a New Zealand-first.

In another first, the city will elect a Māori ward councillor to serve alongside a mayor and general ward councillors in what many have framed as a return to democracy for New Zealand’s fifth-largest city.

The 2019 council was sacked and replaced with government-appointed commissioners in 2021 after a tumultuous start to the term led to governance concerns.

Then-Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta appointed four commissioners to lead the council: Former National Party minister Anne Tolley as chairwoman with Bill Wasley, Stephen Selwood and Shadrach Rolleston.

None of the commissioners have stood in this election, but six members of the 2019 council ran again.

In total, 75 candidates – 15 of those running for mayor – put their hands up. Voters ranked their top picks using the single transferrable vote system.

The new council will take charge of a fast-growing city with a housing shortfall of 5500 and projected to grow, New Zealand’s biggest port, traffic congestion, and the least affordable housing of any main centre. Commissioners have planned about $4.9 billion in capital spending over the coming decade.

Mayoral contenders Andrew Caie, Doug Owens, Tim Maltby, Chudleigh Haggett, Donna Hannah, Mahé Drysdale, John Robson, Hori BOP, Ria Hall, Jos Nagels, Greg Brownless, Tina Salisbury. Photo: Alisha Evans/SunLive.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has identified the city as an early option for a city/regional deal committing to a long-term investment partnership with the Government. — Additional reporting Bay of Plenty Times