Lianne Dalziel is Christchurch's new mayor, election results show. Photo / Martin Hunter
Lianne Dalziel has been confirmed as the new mayor of Christchurch.
She got the good news from city council acting chief executive Jane Parfitt in a telephone call at 1.15pm.
"I'm just feeling really confident about what we're going to do," Dalziel told her.
Dalziel got 70,403 votes, about 70 per cent.
Paul Lonsdale was second with 22,215, however he did win a city council seat.
Only four councillors have retained their posts according to progress results for the highest-polling candidates:
* Banks Peninsula Ward - Andrew Turner (991 votes).
* Burwood-Pegasus Ward - David East (7298 votes), Glenn Livingstone (6675 votes).
* Fendalton-Waimairi Ward - Jamie Gough (8471 votes), Raf Manji (6270 votes).
* Hagley-Ferrymead Ward - Yani Johanson (7107 votes), Paul Lonsdale (4512 votes).
* Riccarton-Wigram Ward - Vicki Buck (10,979 votes), Jimmy Chen (6794 votes)
* Shirley-Papanui Ward - Ali Jones (8750 votes), Pauline Cotter (6036 votes)
* Spreydon-Heathcote Ward - Phil Clearwater (7335 votes), Tim Scandrett (5573 votes).
Ms Dalziel, after being given a kiss of congratulation by husband Rob Davidson, said that was a council she could work with.
"It's fantastic. We've got a mixture of people who've been there before, some new blood, some people who would never have put their names forward, have put their names forward ... Vicki Buck is back, Phil Clearwater is a really important contributor on that side of town, a new guy for Lyttelton, it's great.
"I'm really over the moon. It's going to be a great council and we'll really focus on the recovery of the city."
Her overwhelming majority gives her the mandate to "speak for the city", she said.
"That was the campaign that we ran - we wanted to be in a position to speak for the city and develop that high performing council operation that people have been looking for.
"Really since the earthquakes occurred, I think people felt the council hasn't really lived up to its role in the recovery, and once the emergency was over, they really didn't seem to think they had to go beyond business as usual and really make a difference. We can do that.
"This is a council that can do that and I think the Government will be pretty impressed as well."
The full progress results, including Community Board members, can be viewed here.
The Wellington to Picton ferry had a technical issue and was being towed back to port.