Well, the votes are (mostly) in, and we’re stoked!

Three years ago, we revolutionised local politics with our 2022 local body elections campaign. Remember the supposedly dangerous organisation hiding candidates and seeking to make New Zealand ungovernable?! Or so we were all told…

Council Watch NZ

This year, we launched Council Watch NZ and took things to the next level (giving Sanjana and some in the MSM a nice dose of indigestion!).

Like 2022, our 2025 Council Watch NZ campaign wasn’t about running a political ticket. Rather, it was about empowering voters and candidates with honest information, practical resources, and shared values of accountability, transparency, and common sense.

Most importantly, strategic RCR content made our issues front and centre. Candidates across the political spectrum had to address these issues. And voters knew what to look for.

We didn’t tell people who to vote for. We gave them the tools to decide for themselves and ensured that those who share their values could be heard.

Here’s what the Council Watch NZ Campaign 2025 looked like:

• Council Watch Candidate Survey: Thousands of voters used the survey to see where candidates stood on the big issues: rates, debt, climate spending, Māori wards, and infrastructure.
• Campaign Materials: The Council Watch website and tens of thousands of wallet-sized conversation cards, flyers, billboards and pop-up corflute signs highlighted the key issues like wasteful spending, council debt, parking chaos, neglected infrastructure, and democracy under threat.
• RCR Coverage: Hundreds of Reality Check Radio interviews, panels, and election specials helped both voters and candidates get informed.
• Candidate & Voter Support: We provided freely available resources, a comprehensive Local Body Election Guide handbook, Q&A guidance, webinar training and campaign tools to help those aligned with our values communicate their message clearly and confidently.

Influencing the Issues & All Candidates

Even before the final counts are confirmed, it’s clear our issues dominated the campaign. Candidates across the spectrum were pressed to talk about rate rises, Maori Wards, the war on cars and accountability – topics the establishment could no longer ignore.

While some of the newly elected candidates are publicly known members of our wider VFF community, many more are quietly aligned and prefer to stay under the radar. And it’s important to remember that our strategy was always to influence the campaign platforms of all candidates.

That’s why there are now hundreds of local politicians around the country who have no connection to VFF, yet campaigned – and won – on one or more of the issues we’ve been championing.

That’s real influence. And real impact.

We also saw voters in 25 councils reject arbitrary and illogical Maori wards.

Our goal was not only to see aligned candidates win seats, but also to change what New Zealand talks about when it comes to local government – and we’ve done that. There has been renewed attention to what really matters in local government: fiscal prudence, basic infrastructure, transparency and service.

Stay Tuned…

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be talking to more of these successful politicians but for now we’ve already had some RCR interviews with the new mayor of New Plymouth Max Brough and returning Councillor Murray Chong.

We’ve also seen some of the usual trolls lose their minds about the success of commonsense candidates in places like the Selwyn District Council.

Thank You.

Of course, these results wouldn’t have been possible without you, our team, all the volunteers, and everyday Kiwis who support our mission. Whether you were a candidate, delivered flyers, hosted a pop-up, shared memes or interviews online, encouraged others to vote, or simply voted – you made this happen.

There’s still work ahead to reform councils and hold them accountable, but for now, take a moment to celebrate. We’ve made significant progress, and we’ve set the stage for three years of greater public scrutiny and accountability in local government.

Local action really does create national impact.

With gratitude,

Claire, Alia & Tane