The mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North, New Zealand, and presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The current mayor is Grant Smith, who became mayor in a February 2015 by-election. This resulted from the resignation of Jono Naylor in October 2014 after his election to the House of Representatives. Since the 2013 election, Palmerston North is one of the few councils that uses the single transferable vote electoral system for the election of mayor.
Voting system Council elections were annually at first, and biennial since 1914. The mayor is directly elected using a single transferable vote electoral system, starting with the 2013 election, and with a first past the post system earlier. Elections are held every three years.
History The Borough Council was established on 12 July 1877. At the time, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of a native forest that covered inland Manawatu. The population was approximately 800 people. The first elections on 9 August 1877 returned a council with nine members, including George Snelson as the first mayor. Snelson is regarded as the founding father of Palmerston North.
On 1 August 1930, Palmerston North was officially gazetted as a city, the 7th settlement in New Zealand to have reached the then-threshold of 20,000 inhabitants. With that, the Borough Council became a city council.
Jono Naylor was first elected mayor in 2007, and resigned that position after being elected to the House of Representatives in the as a list MP for the National Party. Grant Smith was elected in his place in 2015, with the previous deputy mayor Jim Jefferies having been acting mayor in the intervening period.
There have been 29 holders of the position. The longest-serving was Gus Mansford, who held the post for 16 years. Jill White was the first female mayor in 1998, since followed by Heather Tanguay in 2004.
Three mayors have held non-consecutive terms: George Snelson (4 separate periods) James Linton William Thomas Wood
Five mayors also served as members of Parliament: William Thomas Wood (1902–1908) Jimmy Nash (1918–1935) Blair Tennent (1945–1954; 1957–1964) Jill White (1993–1998) Jono Naylor (2014–2017)
Of those, Nash and Tennent have fulfilled the role of mayor and member of parliament concurrently: Nash for five years (1918–1923) Tennent for two years (1957–1959)
List of mayors of Palmerston North
The following persons have served as mayor of Palmerston North: NameTerm1George Snelson1877–18792James Linton1879–18823Frits Jenssen1882–1883George Snelson, 2nd time1883–1884James Linton, 2nd time1884–18854Alexander Ferguson1885–18865Ludolph Georg West1886–18876Solomon Abrahams1887–1889George Snelson, 3rd time1889–18927Robert Edwards1892–18938William Park1893–18959William Thomas Wood1895–189910Henry Haydon1899–1901George Snelson, 4th time1901 – 31 October 1901William Thomas Wood, 2nd time1901–190311Charles Dunk1903–190412Edward Orr Hurley1904–190513Maurice Cohen1905–190714Richard Essex1907–190815Jimmy Nash1908–192316Frederick Joseph Nathan1923–192717Archibald James Graham1927–193118Gus Mansford1931–194719Geoffrey Tremaine1947–195620Blair Tennent1956–195921Gilbert Rennie1959–196922Desmond Barry Black1969–197123Brian Elwood1971–198524Paul Rieger1985–199825Jill White1998–200126Mark Bell-Booth2001–200427Heather Tanguay2004–200728Jono Naylor2007–201429Grant Smith2015–present
List of deputy mayors of Palmerston North
Died in office Name Term MayorSolomon Abrahams1906–1907CohenUnknown1907–1921–Stephen Lancaster1921–1923NashFrederick Jackson1923–1925NathanArchibald James Graham1925–1927Unknown 1927–GrahamMeldrum Alfred Eliott1930Joe Hodgens1931–1936MansfordGeoffrey Tremaine1936–1947Unknown 1947–TremaineF.G. Opie1950Unknown––David Thomas Spring1958–1970TennentRennieBlackUnknown–1974–Gordon Brown1974–1976ElwoodUnknown1976–Gordon Robert Kear–1983Unknown1983–1985Bernard John Forde 1985–1998Elwood, Brian. Oral Interview - Brian Elwood. 2 May 1985, https://manawatuheritage.pncc.govt.nz/item/7d6d1146-f980-4032-af13-53d87ae82b10. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.RiegerJim Jefferies1998–2001White Alison Wall 2001–2004 Bell-Booth John Hornblow 2004–2010 Tanguay Naylor Jim Jefferies 2010–2015 Duncan McCann 2015–2016 Smith Tangi Utikere 2016–2020Aleisha Rutherford 2020–2022Debi Marshall-Lobb2022–present
References