# Mayor of Lower Hutt

The city of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, was first proclaimed a borough on 1 February 1891. Prior to this it had been part of Hutt County, initially as a Roads Board and from 1881 as a Town Board.
Since 2019, the mayor has been Campbell Barry.

## History

The Hutt County Council was established in 1877, covering the region from Wellington's south coast up to Waikanae, excluding Wellington City. The county council was headed by a chairman rather than a mayor. As the region grew, urban parts of the Hutt County became autonomous boroughs with Lower Hutt becoming its own borough in 1891 with a borough council headed by a mayor to be directly elected by ratepayers. William Fitzherbert was elected unopposed with six borough councillors also being elected. From the 1920s on population grew quickly and in 1941 Lower Hutt became a city after reaching the required population of 20,000 for city status. As a result of the 1989 local government reforms Lower Hutt City amalgamated several of the neighbouring authorities including the Petone Borough Council, Eastbourne Borough Council and Hutt County Council (centred on Wainuiomata) as well as land on the waterfront formerly in the possession of the Wellington Harbour Board. The sitting mayor of Lower Hutt City was elected as mayor of the expanded Hutt City Council in 1989, however retaining the title mayor of Lower Hutt despite the "Lower" being dropped from the name of the council.
The longest-serving mayor was Percy Dowse who held office for twenty years, from 1950 to 1970.

## List of mayors

Mayors of Lower Hutt have been:

### Key

Independent  Citizens'  Labour
| # | Name | Term of office | Term of office |
| 1 | William Fitzherbert | 1 February 1891 | 18 November 1898 |
| 2 | Walter George Foster | 18 November 1898 | 5 March 1900 |
| 3 | Edmund Percy Bunny | 5 March 1900 | 24 April 1901 |
| 4 | Orton Stevens | 24 April 1901 | 26 April 1905 |
| 5 | Thomas William McDonald | 26 April 1905 | 1 May 1907 |
| 6 | Thomas Peterkin | 1 May 1907 | 6 May 1909 |
| (3) | Edmund Percy Bunny | 6 May 1909 | 7 May 1914 |
| 7 | Henry Baldwin | 7 May 1914 | 8 April 1918 |
| 8 | Percy Rishworth | 27 April 1918 | 21 December 1921 |
| 9 | Will Strand | 21 December 1921 | 16 May 1929 |
| 10 | Sir Alex Roberts | 16 May 1929 | 13 May 1931 |
| (9) | Will Strand | 13 May 1931 | 10 May 1933 |
| 11 | Jack Andrews | 10 May 1933 | 9 June 1947 |
| 12 | Ernst Peterson Hay | 9 June 1947 | 20 January 1949 |
| 13 | William Gregory | 14 March 1949 | 18 November 1950 |
| 14 | Percy Dowse | 18 November 1950 | 9 December 1970 |
| 15 | Sir John Kennedy-Good | 21 December 1970 | 24 October 1986 |
| 16 | Glen Evans | 24 October 1986 | 31 October 1995 |
| 17 | John Terris | 31 October 1995 | 10 October 2004 |
| 18 | David Ogden | 10 October 2004 | 9 October 2010 |
| 19 | Ray Wallace | 9 October 2010 | 12 October 2019 |
| 20 | Campbell Barry | 12 October 2019 | present |

### List of deputy mayors
#### Key

Independent  Citizens'  Labour
| Name | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Mayor |
| | William Henry Russell | 1908 | 1909 | Peterkin |
| Vacant ||||||
| | Henry Baldwin | 1910 | 1911 | Bunny |
| Vacant ||||||
| | John Brassell | 1918 | 1918 | Baldwin |
| Vacant ||||||
| | Archibald John Hobbs | 1925 | 1931 | Strand |
| | Archibald John Hobbs | 1925 | 1931 | Roberts |
| | John Mitchell | 1931 | 1944 | Andrews |
| | Ernst Peterson Hay | 1944 | 1947 | Andrews |
| | William Gregory | 1947 | 1949 | Hay |
| | Eric Rothwell | 1949 | 1950 | Gregory |
| | Harry Horlor | 1950 | 1956 | Dowse |
| | James McDonald | 1956 | 1959 | Dowse |
| | George Barker | 1959 | 1962 | Dowse |
| | Chen Werry | 1962 | 1968 | Dowse |
| | Dave Hadley | 1968 | 1971 | Dowse |
| | Dave Hadley | 1968 | 1971 | Kennedy-Good |
| | John Seddon | 1971 | 1974 | Kennedy-Good |
| | Chen Werry | 1974 | 1977 | Kennedy-Good |
| | Ernie Barry | 1977 | 1980 | Kennedy-Good |
| | Mollie Ngan Kee | 1980 | 1983 | Kennedy-Good |
| | Teri Puketapu | 1983 | 1989 | Kennedy-Good |
| | Teri Puketapu | 1983 | 1989 | Evans |
| | Betty van Gaalen | 1989 | 1995 | Evans |
| | Joan Monrad | 1995 | 1998 | Terris |
| | Pat Brosnan | 1998 | 2001 | Terris |
| | Ray Wallace | 2001 | 2004 | Terris |
| | Roger Styles | 2004 | 2010 | Ogden |
| | David Bassett | 2010 | 2019 | Wallace |
| | Tui Lewis | 2019 | present | Barry |