Mayor of Wellington

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4] He died suddenly on 19 July 1843. William Guyton was then declared mayor, as runner-up in 1842.^[5]

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.^[6]

In 1863, a Town Board was established with three wards (Thorndon, Lambton, Te Aro), but no Mayor.^[7]

On 16 September 1870, Wellington was officially incorporated as a city, and a new mayoralty created, which continues to be in place.^[8] The establishment of the new council was primarily driven by John Plimmer, called by some the Father of Wellington.^[9] 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.^[10] The inaugural mayoral election was held in 1874 resulting in William Sefton Moorhouse being the first mayor to be elected directly by voters.^[11]

Since then the office of mayor has been held by 38 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, who held the office from 2022 to 2025, was the first Māori person to serve as mayor.^[12]

Key

  Independent   Citizens'   Labour

More information No., Name ...

	No.	Name	Portrait	Term of office		Elections
	-	George Hunter		3 October 1842	19 July 1843â€	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 • 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	17 October 2025	2022
	38	Andrew Little		17 October 2025	Incumbent	2025

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Quick facts Deputy Mayor of Wellington, Appointer ...

Deputy Mayor of Wellington
Incumbent Ben McNulty since 29 October 2025
Appointer	Mayor of Wellington Wellington City Council[a]
Inaugural holder	John Smith
Salary	$136,327[1]

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The deputy mayor of Wellington is the deputy head of the municipal government of Wellington, New Zealand. They fill in for the mayor when they are absent, among other responsibilities.