Another take on the Christchurch local body elections, from Caleb Morgan. Digs into the “non-political politician” sham quite well.

the main barrier to informed voting seems to be that most candidates are doing their utmost to portray themselves as being non-party-affiliated, and sometimes even ‘non-political.’

Also worth considering it Generation Zero’s easy-to-read table comparing the policies of Hagley-Ferrymead candidates. They consider climate change, carbon neutrality, cycling, green buildings and public transport, and give the candidates good or average policy rankings. Notable that there were no bads.