He had worked as a television presenter for Television New Zealand, hosting lifestyle and home improvement shows including Home Front, and was a writer who had published several books.[3]
He was married to Joan Wilson, with whom he had two daughters.[4][5]
David Cull was elected to the Dunedin City Council in 2007.[2] During his time as a councillor, he opposed the new stadium, which has since become a financial drain on the council.[6] In the 2010 Dunedin mayoral election, he was one of seven candidates, one of whom was incumbent mayor Peter Chin. Cull stood as part of the Greater Dunedin group[7] and was successful.[8] He took office as mayor on 27 October 2010.[9]
Cull expressed support for a controversial planned waterfront hotel that at 28 storeys, would tower over much of the city.[10] In March 2014, Cull entered a memorandum of understanding with the developer on behalf of Dunedin City Council, but the agreement fell over and was terminated a month later, which meant the end of the project.[11]
In January 2013, Cull announced that he would seek re-election in that year's mayoral election.[12] On election day, he beat ex ACT MP Hilary Calvert, Councillor Lee Vandervis, and six other challengers.[13]
In December 2015, Cull was involved in a heated exchange with Councillor Vandervis, who alleged that Cull had paid a bribe to secure a Council contract in the 1980s. Vandevis subsequently filed a defamation suit seeking NZ$250,000 in general damages and NZ$250,000 in exemplary damages plus legal costs, alleging that Cull had defamed him when responding to that claim. In July 2017, Vandervis settled the lawsuit out of court due to legal delays and spiraling costs but declined to apologise to Cull.[14]
In July 2017, Cull was elected as the president of Local Government New Zealand.[15] He had previously served as the organisation's vice-president and chair of its metro committee.
In late May 2019, Cull announced he would not seek re-election at that year's mayoral election.[16][17] In mid August 2019, Cull announced that he would be contesting local body elections for the Southern District Health Board;[18] he was elected, and then appointed the Board's Chair in December 2019.[19]
