You must be a New Zealand citizen and be a parliamentary elector (enrolled to vote).

Other requirements are that:

• Two electors in the area you are standing for nominate you.
• You or your spouse/partner must not have concerns or interests in contracts over $25,000 with the council.
• You pay the $200 nomination deposit.
• If you are subject to a Court Order under section 31 of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, you should seek legal advice.
• If you are an employee of the council, you must resign before taking up your position as an elected member. You may be required to take leave for campaigning prior to the election.

Please note:

• You cannot stand if you are currently serving a prison term of three years or more.
• You do not need to reside in the area (district, ward or constituency) that you are standing for.
• You do not need any formal qualifications. Elected members come from all walks of life, and generally have a desire to serve their community.

If you are standing ‘at large’, then you are standing for the whole council area rather than from its wards.

If you are standing for a ‘ward’ or ‘constituency’ they are the parts of a council area that have been determined by population and communities of interest. For MPDC these can be either general wards (Matamata, Morrinsville, Te Aroha) or the Māori ward.

You can run for the Mayor or Councillor position.

While you can stand for Mayor and a ward Councillor in the same election, there are some restrictions and rules:

• You cannot stand for both a district council and regional council.
• You cannot stand as Councillor for more than one ward or constituency in a council.

Yes, if you belong to a political party or other group you may want to identify with them. If you do have a specific affiliation, the Electoral Officer may require a letter of consent from the party, organisation or group giving its consent for you to use the affiliation.

However, you don’t have to have any affiliations. If this is your situation, you can identify as, ‘independent’ or leave the space blank when you fill out your nomination form.

No. To be eligible to stand for election in a Māori ward, you must be a New Zealand citizen and your name must be on the Parliamentary electoral roll anywhere in New Zealand.

You will need to be nominated by two electors whose names appear on the Māori electoral roll within the area of election for which you are standing.

Equally, if you are on the Māori roll you can stand in a General ward and will need to be nominated by two electors whose names appear on the General electoral roll within the area of election for which you are standing.

If you wish to list whānau, hapū or iwi details as an affiliation, an endorsement or confirmation letter from a Marae, Whānau Trust, Iwi Authority, or another Māori organisation would be required.

It is acknowledged that whakapapa is a birth right and situations may occur where candidates may not feel they need to provide proof, in which case whakapapa can be highlighted in the context of the candidate profile statement and other forums and activities. 

No, your whakapapa does not count as a “party” that you can be affiliated with. An iwi organisation can be used if they provide an endorsement or confirmation letter. Your whakapapa can still be highlighted in the context of the candidate profile statement and other forums and activities. 

The highest polling candidate in this year’s Māori ward election will hold office until October 2028. If the poll result favours removing Māori wards, there will not be an electoral contest for the Māori ward position in 2028 or 2031. If the poll result favours keeping Māori wards there will be an electoral contest for the Māori ward position in 2028 and 2031, and they will be separately advertised at those times.

If you intend standing for a Māori ward, and want to talk to your the Electoral Officer about poll outcome scenarios, the Electoral Officer for Matamata-Piako District Council is Warwick Lampp, and you can contact him on 0800 666 048 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Three years.

Pay and allowances are determined by the Government’s Remuneration Authority. The pay rates vary according to population size and other factors. You can see all the councils’ remuneration schedules by clicking on this link to the Local Government Members (2024/25) Determination. 

The figures outlined below are currently accurate in the legislation but will likely change for 2025/26. We will update the figures as and when they are available:

Nomination forms and a candidate handbook can be downloaded from the council website or collected from council offices from 16 June 2025. Alternatively, you can get a nomination form from the Electoral Officer, and your nominators must fill it in. You must agree to being nominated and will need to sign the form.

The Electoral Officer for Matamata-Piako District Council is Warwick Lampp, and you can contact him on 0800 666 048 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There are many different skills you will need to draw on, but the success of local government comes when all voices of a community can be heard and included. Importantly, you need to care about all members of your community and communicate their views - even people you don’t agree with! This is called ‘representation’.

You also need to be able to think about strategic issues and take both a short and long-term view of the impact your decisions will have. This is called ‘governance’. These two concepts are at the heart of local government.

Finally, you also must know to uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi – The Treaty of Waitangi to facilitate participation by Māori in local authority decision-making processes.

Nominations open on Friday, 4 July and close on Friday, 1 August 2025 at midday. Nominations must be lodged with the electoral officer at the council you are standing for. 

Do not leave lodgement until the last day because if there are any problems with the details provided there might be insufficient time to resolve them, and you could miss out. 

You may provide a candidate profile statement when you lodge your nomination. This is a statement of up to 150 words containing information about yourself and your policies and intentions if elected to office. The profile statement will be included in the voting documents that all electors receive.

If your candidate statement is submitted in Māori and English, the information contained in each language must be substantially consistent with the information contained in the other language. Each language has to be within a 150 word limit.

Your profile statement must be true and accurate. The Electoral Officer is not required to verify or investigate any information included in your statement, so the responsibility is on the candidate to do so.

Your profile can also include a recent photograph (digital is recommended). See section 61 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 for more information.

Yes, these are outlined in the candidate handbook. Candidates should make themselves familiar with those rules. There will be a candidate briefing in our district on Monday, 9 June; we will share the details when they are confirmed.

The rules will be about things like not going over budget on advertising and keeping track of all your expenses, as you will need to submit them after the completion of the campaign.

There are also rules that apply to signage, such as where and when signs can be erected.

Further, there are limits to the amount of money candidates can spend on their election campaigns, which includes donations and joint campaigning. These will be listed in the candidate handbook.