# Mayor of Wellington

The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representation. The current mayor is Tory Whanau, elected in October 2022 for a three-year-term.
Whanau, a member of the Green Party who ran as an independent, won the 2022 Wellington mayoral election in a landslide. She will be inaugurated within the same month. Whanau is the first indigenous person, and therefore the first Māori woman, to ascend to the Wellington mayoralty.

## History

The development of local government in Wellington was erratic. The first attempt to establish governmental institutions, the so-called "Wellington Republic", was short-lived and based on rules written by the New Zealand Company. Colonel William Wakefield was to be the first president.
When the self-proclaimed government arrested a ship's captain for a violation of Wellington law, the Governor William Hobson quickly asserted British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand, sending a warship and contingent of soldiers to Wellington Harbour and disbanding the council through a show of force.
In January 1842, the Legislative Council in Auckland passed the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, and in May 1842 Wellington was officially proclaimed a borough, the first municipality with this status. The office of mayor was established, but there were only two holders of this office under the Ordinance. George Hunter received the most votes in the election for 12 Burgesses to the new council on 3 October 1842 and was declared mayor. He died suddenly on 19 July 1843. William Guyton was then declared mayor, as runner-up in 1842.
The British Government disallowed the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, but news of this did not reach Wellington until late September 1843, after the election had been held and a second Burgess Roll of qualified voters had been prepared, in 1843 (both Rolls are listed in Carman 1970). After a brief period of little local government, the Province of Wellington was established in 1852, and most of Wellington's affairs were handled by the provincial government.
In 1863, a Town Board was established with three wards (Thorndon, Lambton, Te Aro), but no Mayor.
On 16 September 1870, Wellington was officially incorporated as a city, and a new mayoralty created, which continues to be in place. The establishment of the new council was primarily driven by John Plimmer, called by some the Father of Wellington. Initially, the councillors elected one of their own as mayor towards the end of the year. The role was traditionally awarded to the longest serving councillor. The system changed upon the introduction of The Municipal Corporations Acts Amendment Act, 1875. It legislated that mayors must be elected at large by eligible voters. The inaugural mayoral election was held in 1874 resulting in William Sefton Moorhouse being the first mayor to be elected directly by voters.
Since then the office of mayor has been held by 37 people. Five people have been mayor on two separate occasions, and the longest-serving mayor was Sir Frank Kitts, from 1956 to 1974. Tory Whanau, elected in 2022, is the first Māori person to serve as mayor.

## List of mayors of Wellington
### Key

Independent  Citizens'  Labour
| # | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Elections |
| - | George Hunter | 3 October 1842 | 19 July 1843† | 1842 |
| - | William Guyton | 26 July 1843 | 9 December 1843 | — |
| 1 | Joe Dransfield | 28 September 1870 | 17 December 1873 | — |
| 2 | Charles Borlase | 8 January 1874 | 28 January 1875 | — |
| 3 | William Sefton Moorhouse | 28 January 1875 | 1 December 1875 | 1874 |
| 4 | William Hutchison | 15 December 1875 | 19 December 1877 | 1875 • 1876 |
| (1) | Joe Dransfield | 19 December 1877 | 9 May 1879 | 1877 • 1878 |
| 5 | George Allen | 10 May 1879 | 29 May 1879 | — (Acting Mayor) |
| (4) | William Hutchison | 29 May 1879 | 30 November 1881 | 1879 • 1879 • 1880 |
| 6 | George Fisher | 30 November 1881 | 17 December 1885 | 1881 • 1882 1883 • 1884 |
| 7 | Arthur Winton Brown | 17 December 1885 | 15 December 1886 | 1885 |
| 8 | Sam Brown | 15 December 1886 | 27 December 1888 | 1886 • 1887 |
| 9 | John Duthie | 27 December 1888 | 19 December 1889 | 1888 |
| 10 | Charles Johnston | 19 December 1889 | 23 December 1890 | 1889 |
| (7) | Arthur Winton Brown | 23 December 1890 | 16 December 1891 | 1890 |
| 11 | Francis Bell | 16 December 1891 | 20 December 1893 | 1891 • 1892 |
| 12 | Alfred Brandon | 20 December 1893 | 20 December 1894 | 1893 |
| 13 | Charles Luke | 20 December 1894 | 19 December 1895 | 1894 |
| (6) | George Fisher | 19 December 1895 | 16 December 1896 | 1895 |
| (11) | Francis Bell | 16 December 1896 | 15 December 1897 | 1896 |
| 14 | John Blair | 15 December 1897 | 21 December 1899 | 1897 • 1898 |
| 15 | John Aitken | 21 December 1899 | 4 May 1905 | 1899 • 1900 • 1901 1902 • 1903 • 1904 |
| 16 | Thomas William Hislop | 4 May 1905 | 5 May 1909 | 1905 • 1906 1907 • 1908 |
| 17 | Alfred Newman | 5 May 1909 | 5 May 1910 | 1909 |
| 18 | Thomas Wilford | 5 May 1910 | 2 May 1912 | 1910 • 1911 |
| 19 | David McLaren | 2 May 1912 | 8 May 1913 | 1912 |
| 20 | John Luke | 8 May 1913 | 11 May 1921 | 1913 • 1914 • 1915 1917 • 1919 |
| 21 | Robert Wright | 11 May 1921 | 13 May 1925 | 1921 • 1923 |
| 22 | Charles Norwood | 13 May 1925 | 11 May 1927 | 1925 |
| 23 | George Troup | 11 May 1927 | 20 May 1931 | 1927 • 1929 |
| 24 | Thomas Hislop | 20 May 1931 | 14 June 1944 | 1931 • 1933 • 1935 1938 • 1941 |
| 25 | Will Appleton | 14 June 1944 | 6 December 1950 | 1944 • 1947 |
| 26 | Robert Macalister | 6 December 1950 | 6 December 1956 | 1950 • 1953 |
| 27 | Frank Kitts | 6 December 1956 | 13 November 1974 | 1956 • 1959 • 1962 1965 • 1968 • 1971 |
| 28 | Michael Fowler | 13 November 1974 | 26 October 1983 | 1974 • 1977 • 1980 |
| 29 | Ian Lawrence | 26 October 1983 | 30 October 1986 | 1983 |
| 30 | Jim Belich | 30 October 1986 | 28 October 1992 | 1986 • 1989 |
| 31 | Fran Wilde | 28 October 1992 | 28 October 1995 | 1992 |
| 32 | Mark Blumsky | 28 October 1995 | 27 October 2001 | 1995 • 1998 |
| 33 | Kerry Prendergast | 27 October 2001 | 27 October 2010 | 2001 • 2004 • 2007 |
| 34 | Celia Wade-Brown | 27 October 2010 | 10 October 2016 | 2010 • 2013 |
| 35 | Justin Lester | 10 October 2016 | 19 October 2019 | 2016 |
| 36 | Andy Foster | 19 October 2019 | 15 October 2022 | 2019 |
| 37 | Tory Whanau | 15 October 2022 | Present | 2022 |

### List of deputy-mayors of Wellington
#### Key

Independent  Citizens'  Labour  Greens
| Name | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Mayor |
| | John Smith | 1910 | 1912 | Wilford |
| Vacant ||||||
| | George Frost | 1920 | 1921 | Luke |
| Vacant ||||||
| | Martin Luckie | 1923 | 1931 | Troup |
| | William Bennett | 1931 | 1936† | Hislop |
| | Martin Luckie | 1936 | 1947 | Hislop |
| | Martin Luckie | 1936 | 1947 | Appleton |
| | Robert Macalister | 1947 | 1950 | Appleton |
| | William Stevens | 1950 | 1953 | Macalister |
| | Ernest Toop | 1953 | 1956 | Macalister |
| | Harry Nankervis | 1956 | 1960 | Kitts |
| | Bill Arcus | 1960 | 1962 | Kitts |
| | Denis McGrath | 1962 | 1965 | Kitts |
| | Matt Benney | 1965 | 1966 | Kitts |
| | Bob Archibald | 1966 | 1970 | Kitts |
| | George Porter | 1970 | 1971 | Kitts |
| | John Jeffries | 1971 | 1974 | Kitts |
| | Ian Lawrence | 1974 | 1983 | Fowler |
| | Gavin Wilson | 1983 | 1986 | Lawrence |
| | Helene Ritchie | 1986 | 1988 | Belich |
| | Terry McDavitt | 1988 | 1989 | Belich |
| | David Watt | 1989 | 1995 | Belich |
| | David Watt | 1989 | 1995 | Wilde |
| | Kerry Prendergast | 1995 | 2001 | Blumsky |
| | Alick Shaw | 2001 | 2007 | Prendergast |
| | Ian McKinnon | 2007 | 2013 | Prendergast |
| | Ian McKinnon | 2007 | 2013 | Wade-Brown |
| | Justin Lester | 2013 | 2016 | Wade-Brown |
| | Paul Eagle | 2016 | 2017 | Lester |
| | Jill Day | 2017 | 2019 | Lester |
| | Sarah Free | 2019 | 2022 | Foster |
| | Laurie Foon | 2022 | present | Whanau |