A new dynamic has been added to the Tauranga council elections with the possible first appearance of candidates standing on the ticket of a national political party.
Delwyn Walker and Dr Ian McLean are standing under the banner of the Green Party for the Tauranga City Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Dr Walker, who is running for one of the regional council's Tauranga seats, understood it was a first for the Bay.
Their link with a political party drew criticism from Tauranga's deputy mayor David Stewart who said local government should be about councillors seeing local issues through local eyes rather than party-political eyes and trying to represent national politics at local level.
"It is not a recipe for success," Mr Stewart said.