# Waitākere ward

Waitākere Ward is a district of Auckland Council in New Zealand. It consists of the part of the old Waitakere City lying west of a line from Te Atatū Peninsula to Titirangi.
The ward elects two councillors, currently Shane Henderson and Ken Turner, who have oversight of its two local boards, Henderson-Massey and Waitākere Ranges.

## Demographics

Waitākere ward covers 359.00 km$^2$ (138.61 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 192,900 as of June 2024, with a population density of 537 people per km$^2$.
Waitākere ward had a population of 178,677 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 8,163 people (4.8%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 22,596 people (14.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 88,563 males, 89,445 females and 666 people of other genders in 57,267 dwellings. 3.4% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 35.2 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 37,266 people (20.9%) aged under 15 years, 35,844 (20.1%) aged 15 to 29, 85,176 (47.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 20,391 (11.4%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 51.6% European (Pākehā); 16.8% Māori; 19.5% Pasifika; 27.4% Asian; 2.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.0% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 92.7%, Māori language by 3.7%, Samoan by 5.3%, and other languages by 25.4%. No language could be spoken by 2.7% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 37.4, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 34.4% Christian, 5.2% Hindu, 2.9% Islam, 1.0% Māori religious beliefs, 1.7% Buddhist, 0.5% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 1.6% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 46.3%, and 6.5% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 37,788 (26.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 65,097 (46.0%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 38,526 (27.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $43,700, compared with $41,500 nationally. 16,623 people (11.8%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 76,422 (54.0%) people were employed full-time, 16,632 (11.8%) were part-time, and 5,310 (3.8%) were unemployed.

## Councillors

| Election | | Councillors Elected | Affiliation | Votes | Notes |
| 2010 | 1 | Penny Hulse | Independent | 18125 | Hulse was appointed Deputy Mayor of Auckland by mayor Len Brown, and served alongside him until he stepped down. She was replaced by Bill Cashmore upon Phil Goff becoming Mayor in 2016. |
| 2010 | 2 | Sandra Coney | Best for the West | 13451 | |
| 2013 | 1 | Penny Hulse | West at Heart | 19498 | |
| 2013 | 2 | Linda Cooper | Independent | 11437 | |
| 2016 | 1 | Penny Hulse | West at Heart | 19935 | Hulse retired from Auckland Council at the 2019 elections. |
| 2016 | 2 | Linda Cooper | Independent | 12442 | |
| 2019 | 1 | Linda Cooper | Independent | 14750 | |
| 2019 | 2 | Shane Henderson | Labour | 14695 | |
| 2022 | 1 | Shane Henderson | Labour | 16545 | |
| 2022 | 2 | Ken Turner | WestWards | 14654 | Seat gained from Linda Cooper by 659 votes |

## Election Results

Election Results for the Waitākere Ward:

### 2022 election results

| | Name | Affiliation | Votes |
| 1 | Shane Henderson | Labour | 16545 |
| 2 | Ken Turner | WestWards | 14654 |
| | Linda Cooper | Independent | 13995 |
| | Shawn Blanchfield | WestWards | 8472 |
| | Peter Chan | Independent | 8199 |
| | Tua Schuster | Independent | 3278 |
| | Aimela Hansen | Independent | 2648 |
| | Michael Coote | Independent | 2550 |
| Blank | Blank | Blank | 1528 |
| Informal | Informal | Informal | 61 |