Sat 8 Oct 2016 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
While Auckland waits with baited breath to see if it has its first openly-gay city councilor Christchurch election progress results show that the city has elected its first councilor who was openly gay at the time of his elecetion Although final results will not be known until tomorrow it looks all but certain that, with 400 votes more than his nearest opponent, deopn Swiggs will be the councilor representing the city's Central Ward. Swiggs, an ex-Navy man, was active in helping Christchurch's citizens have a say in the city's re-build after the disastrous earthquakes, setting up the Rebuild Christchurch project giving easy public access to vital information. Christchurch's mayor, Lianne Dalziel, a strong advocate of glbti equality and issues from the start of her political career in the 1980s, has been returned with a comfortable majority.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 8th October 2016 - 5:49pm