Green Party candidate Geordie Rogers has been elected in the by-election to fill the vacant seat in Wellington City Council’s Pukehīnau/Lambton General Ward.

Mr Rogers has won the seat with 4147 votes - 45 votes ahead of Karl Tiefenbacher on 4102 votes.

The result follows the validating and counting of 537 special votes.

The initial progress result of the election, issued on Saturday afternoon, showed Mr Tiefenbacher ahead of Mr Rogers by 621 votes. However, a count of final-day votes on Saturday evening reduced his winning margin to 164 with special votes still to be validated and counted. With all votes now counted, Mr Rogers is declared the winner.

A total of 8644 votes were cast – equating to a turnout of about 25% of the 33,723 enrolled voters in the ward – which centres on central Wellington, Te Aro and surrounding inner-suburbs.

The seat, one of three in the ward, was vacated by the resignation of former Councillor Tamatha Paul who was elected to Parliament last year.

The final finishing order of candidates is:

· Geordie Rogers – Green Party – 4147

· Karl Tiefenbacher – Independent – 4102

· Ellen Blake – Independent – 653

· Joan Shi – Independent – 418

· Edward Griffiths – Independent – 293

· Zan Rai Gyaw – Independent – No Affiliations – 66

· Peter Wakeman – Independent – 53

Mr Rogers will be sworn-in as a City Councillor at the Te Kaunihera o Pōneke Council meeting next Thursday 29 February 2024.

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