Sweeping political change in the South reflects volatile times, two defeated mayors say.
The past 18 months had been a pressure situation for everyone, former Southland mayor Gary Tong said.
Former Gore mayor Tracy Hicks said the previous term had been difficult because of factors that included the Government’s reform agenda.
The Covid-19 pandemic had showed the potential reach of government and some people had found this unsettling, he said.
Six-term mayor Mr Hicks lost a close mayoralty contest in Gore to 23-year-old Ben Bell and three-term Southland mayor Mr Tong was a tight third behind runner-up Geoffrey Young and winner Rob Scott.
Sir Tim Shadbolt lost the Invercargill mayoralty to Nobby Clark and Aaron Hawkins was defeated in Dunedin by Jules Radich.
Both Mr Tong and Mr Hicks lamented low voter turnout.
Nationally, the preliminary vote count was down to just 36% of eligible voters.
In one area of Auckland, less than 20% of eligible people voted in the local elections.
"We hear we need to do more to put pressure on central government, but it’s hard to tell central government we’re advocating for the people if the turnout is under 50%."
The preliminary turnout was about 47.6% in Southland and about 52.7% in Gore.
Mr Hicks said a serious discussion was needed about turnout.
"It’s pretty obvious now the system is broken," he said.
The Southland and Otago mayoral forums will be rather different in the next term.
"A lot of relationships will need to be built up fairly quickly," Mr Tong said.
He was confident Mr Scott would do a good job.
Mr Hawkins said in a Twitter post it was heartbreaking to see the results come in down south.
He described Mr Hicks and Mr Tong as "hardworking representatives who cared deeply about their communities, and whose support and advice I cherished".
