Former Christchurch Mayor Sir Hamish Hay with Queen Elizabeth II. Photo / Supplied
In his debut mayoral campaign of 1971, he lost to Neville Pickering. In 1974, it was Sir Hamish Hay. Actually, he lost five times in a row to Hay.
In 1989, he was beaten by Vicki Buck. Buck would prove more popular than Hansen across three separate elections – before Garry Moore enjoyed an identical record from 1998 to 2007.
That’s when Sir Bob Parker became Hansen’s two-time conqueror.
Sir Bob Parker on the roof of the City Council building overlooking the city in 2013. Photo / Martin Hunter
In 2013, Lianne Dalziel beat Hansen to the chains and repeated her win in 2016 and 2019. Dalziel stood down at the end of her third term. She remembers Hansen fondly.
“He was always a gentleman. He was always polite and good-natured. He never attacked me personally. What’s not to like?” says Dalziel.
Hansen’s most recent run saw him lose out to incumbent Mayor Phil Mauger. The pair will “lock horns” again over the next few weeks.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger. Photo / George Heard
Mauger’s 2025 campaign statement claims “as an independent, I focus on what matters: lowering rates increases, fixing roads, upgrading infrastructure and keeping the city running”.
Hansen is laser-focused on hyper-local.
“Most of the frontages in Cheviot St [where he has lived for years] have been set back so that the street can be widened the width of the footpath on both sides and the blind bend on the reserve. When there is a function at the school, cars park both sides of the street, the fire engine and ambulance can’t get through, and the rubbish truck has to reverse and go round twice.”
In terms of mass appeal, it seems Mauger has a jump start on his more experienced rival.
Previous campaigns have seen him try a variety of approaches to appeal to voters. In 2016, he opted for total transparency. Perhaps too honest.
“I will be a take-it-easy, completely obnoxious and sneaky mayor, working between 10am-6pm, accepting no food or drink,” Hansen said.
Tubby Hansen, from his 2025 campaign.
He also tapped into the post-quake need for progress.
“I have a certificate of drawing and design which will help with the rebuild. If old stock cement is used the new buildings will crumble. Cement should be expiry dated.”
There was also a prediction for central government in the 2017 general election.
“John Key is certain to be re-elected Prime Minister next year, while Labour faces a landslide defeat, my truck has been sabotaged again.”
Whilst that proved inaccurate, a visit to Hansen’s home confirms his truck is still not in working order. There’s no clue as to who might be responsible.
Tubby’s truck isn’t going anywhere. Photo / Mike Thorpe
His 2007 campaign statement was conspiracy-themed.
“The use of an offensive tingle ray at meetings, and looking inside candidates houses and stinging them on the head with cellphone-lasers is disgracefull [sic].”
In 2019, he zeroed in on the housing market.
“The fairest way to stop house prices rising is to restrict house prices to government valuation, which is every five years, and a 1/5 increase only allowed compounding in the time between valuations,” Hansen said.
In the past, he’s run on the “Economic Euthenics” banner, as a “progressive nudist” and has issues with “English spies”, something called “masers” and special rays that listen to people’s conversations inside their homes.
Asked about any memorable public meetings that they both attended during their three campaigns, Dalziel directs me to a Facebook video montage of Hansen at a mayoral election forum. It’s branded as Hansen’s “highlights” and despite the questions and candidate comments being edited out before Hansen’s answers, you get the feeling that they’d have offered little context anyway. Still, he has plenty to say and does so with absolute confidence, including “infrared, ultrasonic microphones” and saying that all beggars should be taken to the local psychiatric hospital where they could be kept warm and cosy.
It wasn’t enough to sway voters; he finished last that year.
It’s not just the repetitive election losses that Hansen has sustained – it’s the manner of them. Frequently lapped by blank voting slips and often defeated by invalid votes, such as forms with a line through them.
He has finished last in seven of the past nine elections. In 2022, he finished second to last – ahead of Stephen Jelley from “Stop The Stadium”. They were both more than 50,000 votes behind both the winner and runner-up.
Christchurch mayoral candidate Tubby Hansen.
In 2016, he finished a commendable third with a staggering 1414 votes. Admittedly, there were only three candidates that year. Dalziel beat him by more than 74,000 votes. John Minto was a distant but clear second.
Other notable campaigns include 2010 – the great Bob Parker v Jim Anderton “seismic shift” election. He finished second to last with 170 votes – but dwarfed the 58 votes received by Paulus Telfer. Invalid votes shaded them both with 184.
In 2007, he finished behind the entire field with 228 votes. Ahead of him was Kyle Chapman of National Front infamy. “Informal” finished one vote ahead of Hansen as well.
In 2004, he managed 372 votes – placing him in the top ten. The nine other candidates included current councillors Jamie Gough and Aaron Keown.
In 1998 and 2001, he picked up 0.18% of the vote. That’s roughly one in every 555 voters.
The thick, suffocating air of hopelessness that each of those campaigns has carried leads some to ask if he should be permitted to run at all. What’s the point?
Mauger defends Hansen’s right to seek office.
“Democracy is a great thing. It means anyone can stand for elected office and that is something we should celebrate. What I would really love to see this election is Christchurch having the highest voter turnout of any city in the country,” Mauger said.
Former Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel. Photo / NZME
Dalziel is also a believer in Hansen’s freedom to stand.
“Who decides that he shouldn’t be allowed to run? The heart of democracy surely is that he can if he chooses to do so?” Dalziel said.
Mauger, like Hansen, is in election mode – though he’s easier to find.
“We are on a roll as a city with so much momentum. I have a lot more I want to get on with, so I really hope people get out, have their say and vote,” Mauger said.
The unmistakeable home of Christchurch Mayoral candidate, Tubby Hansen. Photo / Mike Thorpe
Hansen’s home is quiet when I knock at his door. A voice behind me says, “he’s not home”.
The desperately narrow street (as Tubby accurately described in his candidate statement) with the loudly painted house has been home to Hansen for as long as anyone I speak to can remember.
One neighbour says he is “eccentric” and knows “everything” about the area. They tell me that he recently painted a row of fence posts in his front yard before grabbing a chair to sit and watch them dry. The neighbour’s face also lights up when they speak of Hansen. He seems to be well-liked here – but he’ll need more than a street full of votes to realise his impossible dream.
A dream that started more than 50 years ago and ends with Hansen occupying the top floor of the Christchurch City Council building. Eventually. If not – there’s always next year’s general election.
Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.