Voters have silenced the city council's voice of youth - and dumped councillor Matt Cowley is unsure whether he will ever return to the political fray.
Mr Cowley, 33, missed out on being re-elected and said he was now uncertain about what the future had in store, except that he needed to finish his Masters in Business Administration next year.
''I was surprised, but there is no point in dwelling on it,'' he said.
Mr Cowley polled near the middle of the field for the at-large candidates, securing 8277 votes - more than 3000 votes short of the lowest-polling successful candidate, Rick Curach.
In hindsight, he realised he should have put less emphasis on campaigning on digital platforms. ''It obviously did not touch a lot of people.''