Independent candidate wrests Wellington City Council seat off Greens in by-election

Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Karl Tiefenbacher, is the provisional winner of the Wellington City Council by-election in Pukehīnau/Lambton ward.

Independent candidate Karl Tiefenbacher is the provisional winner of the by-election to fill the vacant seat in Wellington City Council’s Pukehīnau/Lambton General Ward.

Progress results have been released and show Tiefenbacher ahead of Green Party candidate Geordie Rogers by 621 votes.

The by-election was forced by the resignation of former councillor Tamatha Paul, who entered Parliament after winning the Wellington Central Seat for the Greens.

The seat was left vacant when Tamatha Paul resigned after winning a seat in Parliament as a Green MP.

Tiefenbacher was a vocal opponent of Let’s Get Wellington Moving’s plans to limit vehicle access to the Golden Mile, and was a signatory to the open letter from Wellington’s business community critiquing the plans.

He campaigned as an independent voice who could work with both sides of the politically divided council.

A total of 7358 votes were cast by Friday evening and 797 ordinary voting papers received before polls closed at 12 noon Saturday. Today’s votes along with about 650 issued special votes remain to be counted.

Turnout will be about 24% of the 33,723 enrolled voters in the ward – which centres on central Wellington, Te Aro and surrounding inner-suburbs.

A formal declaration of the final election result will be made on by Wednesday, February 21.

The provisional finishing order of candidates is:

·Karl Tiefenbacher – Independent - 3575 votes

·Geordie Rogers – Green Party - 2954

Ellen Blake – Independent - 572

Joan Shi – Independent - 379

Edward Griffiths – Independent - 261

Zan Rai Gyaw – Independent – No Affiliations - 61

Peter Wakeman – Independent - 49.