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| Turnout | 102,817 (42.56%) | |||||||||||||||
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The 2013 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections and was won by former MP Lianne Dalziel. The elections were held on 12 October 2013 for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government roles.
Incumbent Bob Parker announced 14 months prior to the election that he would seek a third term as mayor. There was much speculation for many months over who would challenge Parker. Dalziel's name was persistently mentioned, but she denied any interest, declaring instead that the job that she really wanted is Gerry Brownlee's as Earthquake Recovery Minister, rather than Bob Parker's. Three first term councillors were also rumoured, with Tim Carter seen as the most likely to come forward. In April 2013, Christchurch's main newspaper, The Press, announced that Dalziel would stand, having asked Student Volunteer Army organiser Sam Johnson to be her running mate. This caused surprise since Dalziel and Johnson are from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but he declined the invitation anyway. It was not until mid June that Dalziel confirmed her candidacy. At the same time, serious problems developed at Christchurch City Council (CCC) over building consent issues, which led to Parker withdrawing his candidacy and council's chief executive, Tony Marryatt, losing his job. In early August, central city retail manager Paul Lonsdale announced his candidacy and was immediately credited by The Press as the most viable alternative to Dalziel, but senior journalist Lois Cairns predicted the following day that Lonsdale "will come in a distant second". Dalziel, the former Labour Party MP for Christchurch East and up to the election the representative of the Christchurch East electorate, had been in Parliament since 1990 and was considered the top favourite. Of the remaining ten candidates, The Press labelled them a mixture of eccentrics, tryers and also-rans.
Dalziel won the election with nearly a 50,000 votes margin and a majority of 48%, with Lonsdale receiving nearly 23,000 votes. Lonsdale also stood for a position as city councillor and was successful on that front. The third placed mayoral candidate received a mere 1,000 votes. Dalziel and the new council were sworn in on 24 October.