Marcus Lush elected to Invercargill City Council
17 Feb, 2021 01:36 AM
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Newstalk ZB host Marcus Lush. Photo / Jason Oxenham
NZ Herald
Newstalk ZB s Marcus Lush has been elected to the Invercargill City Council.
Voting for the by-election closed at midday on Wednesday and results released at 1.30pm show Lush won with 7003 total votes out of the 13,991 which had been counted.
Lush said the public s spirits are low. A lot of people in Bluff and Invercargill have spoken to me and they seem pretty disillusioned with the council. It did concern me with what they had to say.
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Prominent national broadcaster Marcus Lush wants to try to help people get back on board with the Invercargill City Council in his new role as a councillor.
Robyn Edie/Stuff
New Invercargill City councillor Marcus Lush with his family, son Denver, 5, left, partner Vanessa Underwood, and son Tracker, 7, at their home in Bluff. Lush picked up 7003 of the 13,991 votes cast, with his closest fellow candidate Wayne Harpur, who got 1457 votes. Lush said he was “overwhelmed” by the result. “It seems to be a pretty convincing victory. I’m blown away.” He planned to continue his nationwide show, Marcus Lush Nights, which he hosts every weekday between 8pm-12pm. The former Aucklander, who has been prominent in both television and radio roles since the 1990s, moved south in 2002.
A by-election is being held to replace a vacant seat at the Invercargill Council.
Voting papers will soon be sent out for the Invercargill City Council s by-election which is taking place after Toni Biddle resigned from council last year. Voting opens on January 26 with election day on February 17. The following nine candidates will contest the vacant seat.
Supplied/Stuff Wade Devine Wade Devine has a background working in the electrical industry. He says he would bring significant governance experience to the council given his background as a former trustee of the Southland Power Trust and director of a national financial co-operative where he served as chair of both audit/risk and governance committees.
Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt at a city council meeting. The council has generated negative national headlines in recent months as tensions surfaced around the table. “The report fails to identify the culture of one-upmanship within a group of councillors who constantly aim to score points against me and seek publicity for criticism against me, Shadbolt said. His outburst came days after council voted unanimously to accept the report findings with Shadbolt seconding the motion.
Robyn Edie/Stuff
Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt held a press conference late last year after concerns were raised about his leadership (video first published in November 2020).