UPDATED 4.10pm: Justin Lester appears to have the numbers to be Wellington’s next mayor.

Wellington’s Returning Officer, Clare Sullivan, said Lester won by a majority of over 6000 in the last iteration of the progress result.

Some 4500 votes still have to be counted – but they are not expected to change the result.

Progress voter turnout in Wellington is at 42 per cent, compared with 40.85 per cent in 2013, and 40 per cent in 2010.

Sullivan said the turnout had benefited from a “major last-minute surge” of voters.

2016 Local Government Election Coverage 

According to progress election results, Lester has won by a clear margin over independent and outgoing Porirua mayor Nick Leggett.

Centre-right candidate Jo Coughlan is in third place.

Lester has been a councillor since 2010 and was appointed deputy mayor by outgoing mayor Celia Wade-Brown three years ago.

Wade-Brown was still in the running when he announced his candidacy in December, but later dropped out and threw her support behind him.

Lester’s to do list includes the waterfront film museum, extending the airport runway and a convention centre.

He has also vowed to focus on support for small business - he co-founded health food chain Kapai in 2005 - housing and economic investment.

Lester’s victory will be a relief for Labour, who were surprised by the challenge of Leggett, which split the centre-left vote.

Leggett resigned from Labour - which he joined at age 15 - just before announcing his nomination as an independent.

In that way he avoided being expelled because it against the rules for members to stand against endorsed candidates.

Labour leader Andrew Little made an attack on Leggett in August while explaining why he had asked Napier MP Stuart Nash not to speak at an event at which Leggett was speaking, saying the event involved a number of “right-wingers”.

Others standing for mayor included councillors Nicola Young, Andy Foster and Helene Ritchie, and economist and writer Keith Johnson.

Lester stood on a joint Labour ticket with fellow Wellington City councillor Paul Eagle, who will be his deputy mayor.