Andy Foster and Justin Lester share awkward hug

Andy Foster has officially been sworn in as mayor of Wellington. Photo / Georgina Campbell.

Placing the mayoral chains on the man you're not convinced has the mandate to be leading the city is a pretty awkward affair.

A collective breath was drawn in as ousted one-term mayor Justin Lester stood up to hand over the chains to 27-year-councillor Andy Foster at Wellington City Council's inauguration ceremony.

But Lester took on the tradition with grace - offering Foster an awkward hug before lowering the chains onto his shoulders.

The only thing that would have been more awkward was if Lester had snubbed the tradition alltogether.

Freshly elected Wellington city councillors went ahead with their inauguration ceremony under a cloud of uncertainty.

Final election results narrowed the mayoral vote margin from 503 to 62, prompting Lester to file an application for a recount based on the exclusion of 193 partially informal votes in his favour.

It was all smiles from Lester as he greeted guests at the top of the stairs which lead to the room where the event was held this evening at the Michael Fowler Centre.

In his speech, Foster thanked outgoing elected members, and those who sought re-election but missed out, for their hard work.

"My sympathies, losing your dreams and ambitions is really tough."

He made a point of saying Wellington city would be put first after accusations on he campaign trail that Lester, a Labour ticket mayor, was "for the beehive".

"We will bring our belief our values, but let's do that mahi, that work, with humility", Foster said.

He noted a 40 per cent voter turnout was a low number and said he wanted to inspire Wellingtonians to see the work the council does as something they should engage with.

Foster will be forever checking the clock during this term, with a clear message from the campaign trail that people want to see things get done and the council focus on the things that matter.

He told his councillors they have exactly 1074 days to make that difference, even though they won't always agree on everything.

"Sometimes the road will be smooth and sometimes it will be bumpy, at times we're going to have to break some eggs to make some omelettes."