The 2007 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the 2007 New Zealand local elections. On 13 October of that year, elections were held for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government roles. Incumbent Garry Moore retired in 2007 after nine years in the office.[1]Bob Parker, previously mayor of Banks Peninsula, beat the Christchurch 2021 representative, Megan Woods, with a majority of 14,212 votes (13.73%).[2] Media personality Jo Giles, who had previously contested the Ilam electorate for the ACT Party for Parliament, came a distant third.[3] A further seven candidate contested the election.[1] Parker's campaign was supported by businessman and Ngāi Tahu board member Nuk Korako, who himself was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 for the National Party.[4]
Participation in local elections has been falling for years. In the 2007 local election, 40.81% of registered voters cast their vote, some two percentage points higher than in 2004. The following table shows the voting statistics since the 1989 local elections:[5]
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
2004
2007
Electors on rolls
200,915
208,533
215,621
223,832
227,793
235,930
251,173
Voters
121,680
105,982
107,450
116,511
110,068
91,027
102,495
Percentage voted
60.56%
50.82%
49.83%
52.05%
48.32%
38.58%
40.81%
References
^ a b c dRobertson, Max (17 October 2007). "2007 Local Government Elections" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
^Edward Gay and James Ihaka (13 October 2007). "New faces aplenty in local government shake-ups". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
^"Official Count Results -- Ilam". Chief Electoral Office, Wellington. 1 October 2005. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^Matthews, Philip (18 October 2014). "Late starter on track". The Press. p. C6. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
^ a bRobertson, Max (18 October 2007). "Report of the Electoral Officer" (PDF). Christchurch City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2013.