While former Wellington councillor David Grant was the lead in the first preference votes, it was a close race for the second spot between former mayor Anne Jones and Adam Ryan.

By Sunday 4pm, Ms Jones held a slight lead over Mr Ryan.

Mr Grant received 1626 first preference votes, the equivalent to 30 per cent of those cast in the ward. Ms Jones was up to 1210 on Sunday afternoon at 22.4 per cent, while Mr Ryan was at 959 votes, or 17.8 per cent.

However, Mr Grant said while he was happy to be leading the votes in the ward, he wasn’t ready to pop the champagne cork just yet. Even though a lot of people during the voting had said he would make it onto council, Mr Grant said he hadn’t been confident, and remained hesitant to celebrate before the final count was in.

Now the final decision may come down to the preferences. While Mr Grant said his preferences would go to Mr Ryan, Mr Grant said he would work with whoever was elected.

The Wellington candidates would have an important role to play on the new council, Mr Grant said. Not only would they have to ensure the town and surrounding villages were represented, they could also be the deciders amongst a split council, he said.

Mr Grant said he wanted to thank all the people who had voted for him and supported him.