New mayor of Napier Bill Dalton says he has been given a serious mandate to lead the city, after gaining more than twice the votes of his nearest rival.
Mr Dalton has served on the council for two terms and takes the place of retired mayor Barbara Arnott.
He says he plans to continue the sound financial management of the city that he inherits from the previous council.
"Very impressed that all the incumbents have been returned, which is great, which means we've got experience back, and we've got some exciting new people on the council as well."
Mr Dalton says he believes his strong anti-local government amalgamation stance helped him win the mayoralty.
Wairoa
Wairoa District Council has a new mayor, with Craig Little defeating incumbent Les Probert.
Mr Probert came in third, behind former mayor and broadcaster Derek Fox.
Hawke's Bay
Peter Butler has been re-elected as mayor of Central Hawke's Bay district council by a narrow margin.
With 98% of the vote counted, Mr Butler had a 310 lead over rival Trish Giddens.
In Tararua District, which includes the town of Dannevirke, incumbent Roly Ellis has comfortably won with a majority of about 4,000 votes.
Hastings
Mayor of Hastings District Lawrence Yule has been comfortably returned to office.
Mr Yule, who is also president of Local Government New Zealand gained 5000 votes more than his nearest rival.
Gisborne
Gisborne's long-standing mayor Meng Foon has been re-elected for a fifth term with a large majority. Mr Foon holds a majority of nearly 4,000 votes over his nearest rival.
