About representation reviews
For electoral purposes, Hamilton City is divided into wards (voting areas). To ensure fair and effective representation at elections, we review our electoral arrangements at least every six years, as required by the Local Electoral Act 2001. These reviews consider questions such as:
- How many wards are best for our city?
- Should all (or some) councillors be elected from across the city, or from two (or more) wards?
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How many councillors should there be overall, and in each ward?
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Do we want community boards, and if so, how many members should they have, and which areas should they cover?
Hamilton City Council wards
As a result of the most recent representation review in 2021, Hamilton City is divided into three wards - the East Ward, West Ward, and a citywide Maaori Ward.
The next Hamilton City Council local election will be held on 11 October 2025. A binding poll in relation to the Kirikiriroa Maaori Ward will be held alongside the election.
2021 representation review
In May 2021, Council voted to introduce Maaori wards for the next two local government elections (2022, 2025), after a public consultation.
In August 2021, we underwent a wider representation review, as required by the Electoral Act 2001.
The 2021 proposal was to:
- Keep the structure of six East Ward councillors, six West Ward councillors and the mayor
- introduce two citywide Maaori Ward councillors
We have received 451 submissions with a variety of views.
- 177 responses (39%) supported the initial proposal in its entirety
- 274 responses (61%) did not support the initial proposal in its entirety
- 12 people had their say at the Hearing and Engagement Committee meeting via Zoom.
On 11 November 2021, councillors considered the public submissions and voted to approve the initial proposal as the final proposal for representation arrangements, adding two city-wide Maaori Ward seats to the otherwise unchanged Council table.
This decision was publicly notified on 17 November 2021.
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Last updated 19 May 2025