The mayor of Invercargill is the head of the municipal government of Invercargill, New Zealand, and leads the Invercargill City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system every three years. The current mayor is Tom Campbell. Invercargill also has a deputy mayor that is chosen from the council. There have been 44 mayors so far.
History Invercargill was first proclaimed a municipality on 28 June 1871. On 26 August of that year, the first mayoral elections were held, and William Wood was elected as first mayor, defeating J.W. Mitchell by 191 to 140 votes. Unlike other municipalities, the mayor has always been elected "at large" (i.e., by the public), rather than (as for example in Christchurch) the councillors choosing one of their group.
Originally, mayoral elections were held on an annual basis. From 1915, mayors were elected for a two-year term; and, as of 1935, the mayoral term was extended to three years. There is an election in 2022.
When David Roche resigned the mayoralty in 1887, council appointed Aaron Blacke as mayor until an extraordinary election could be held. This was not done in strict accordance with the law, and Blacke is not included in official lists of Mayors of Invercargill.
Greater Invercargill was created on 10 January 1910 during Charles Stephen Longuet's reign. Longuet was succeeded by William Ott, who was twice elected unopposed and did not seek re-election in 1912.
Invercargill was proclaimed a city on 1 March 1930 during John D. Campbell's mayoralty.
There has been one female mayor so far – Eve Poole. A library building is named after Poole. She died in office in 1992. Tim Shadbolt ran in the resulting by-election and was elected. Shadbolt's 2010 election win was his 8th mayoral term and this made him longest-serving mayor in New Zealand (6 terms served in Invercargill).
Members of Parliament Seven former mayors have also been Members of Parliament, and all of them represented the Invercargill electorate (the years in brackets give their term in Parliament): William Wood (1866–1870) John Cuthbertson (1873–1875) George Lumsden (1875–1878) James Walker Bain (1879–1881) Joseph Hatch (1884–1887) Josiah Hanan (1899–1925) Ralph Hanan (1946–1969)
List of mayors of Invercargill Invercargill has had 44 mayors so far: NameImageTermElections1 William Wood 1871–1873 1871 • 18722 George Lumsden 1873–1874 18733 Thomas Pratt 1874–1875 18744 John Walker Mitchell 1875–1876 18755 John Cuthbertson 1876–1877 18766 Joseph Hatch 1877–1878 1877(2) George Lumsden(2nd period) 1878–1879 18787 George Goodwillie 1879–1880 18798 Nicholas Johnson 1880–1881 18809 Henry Jaggers 1881–1882 188110 John Kingsland 1882–1883 188211 William Sherriffs Moir 1883–1884 188312 George Froggatt 1884–1885 188413 John Lyon McDonald 1885–1886 188514 David Roche 1886–1887 1886– Aaron BlackeNote that Blacke is not included in official lists of mayors of Invercargill. 188715 Edwin Alfred Tapper 1887–1888 188716 Thomas Fleming 1888–1889 1888(4) John Walker Mitchell(2nd period) 1889–1890 188917 William Horatio Hall 1890–1891 189018 James Walker Bain 1891–1892 189119 Duncan McFarlane 1892–1893 189220 Andrew Raeside 1893–1894 189321 William Benjamin Scandrett 1894–1895 189422 John Sinclair 1895–1896 189523 Josiah Hanan 1896–1897 189624 Hugh Mair 1897–1898 189725 John Stead 1898–1899 189826 James Smith Goldie 1899–1901 189927 Charles Stephen Longuet 1901–1903 1901 • 1902(12) George Froggatt(2nd period) 1903–1904 1903(21) William Benjamin Scandrett(2nd period) 1904–1909 1904 • 1905 • 19061907 • 1908(27) Charles Stephen Longuet(2nd period) 1909–1910 190928 William Ott 1910–1912 1910 • 1911(21) William Benjamin Scandrett(3rd period) 1912–1913 1912(19) Duncan McFarlane(2nd period) 1913–1917 1913 • 1914 • 1915(25) John Stead(2nd period) 1917–1921 1917 • 191929 John F. Lillicrap 1921–1923 192130 Andrew Bain 1923–1927 1923 • 192531 John Miller 1927–1929 192732 John D. Campbell 1929–1931 1929(31) John Miller(2nd period) 1931–1938 1931 • 19331935 • 193833 J. Ralph Hanan 1938–1941 34 John Robert Martin 1941–1942 194135 Abraham Wachner 1942–1950 1944 • 194736 William Aitchison 195037 Brian Hewat 1950–1953 195038 Adam Adamson 1953–1962 1953 • 1956 • 195939 Neil Watson 1962–1971 1962 • 1965 • 196840 F. Russell Miller 1971–1983 1971 • 19741977 • 198041 Eve Poole 1983–1992 1983 • 19861989 • 199242 Tim Shadbolt 1993–1995 43 David Harrington 1995–1998 1995(42) Tim Shadbolt(2nd period) 1998–2022 1998 • 2001 • 20042007 • 2010 • 20132016 • 201944 Nobby Clark 2022–2025 202245 Tom Campbell 2025– 2025
List of deputy mayors of Invercargill Name Term of office Mayor William Benjamin Scandrett 1902 Longuet William Benjamin Scandrett 1911 Ott John Stead 1915–1916 McFarlane William Ott 1918–1919 Stead John Matheson 1919 John Lillicrap 1919–1920 Thomas Daniel Lennie 1922–1923 Lillicrap Alexander Glass 1924 Bain Gordon Reed 1935–1938 J. Miller Ralph Hanan 1938 John Robert Martin 1940–1941 Hanan Abraham Wachner 1941–1942 Martin William Aitchison 1944–1950 Wachner Neil Watson 1953–1962 Adamson Clive Faul 1962–1965 Watson F. Russell Miller 1965–1971 Norman Jones 1971–1974 F. R. Miller Eve Poole 1974–1980 Michael Deaker 1980–1983 Jim Fenton 1983–1986 Poole Mark Winter 1986–1989 Bruce Pagan 1989–1992 Dougal Soper 1992–1995 Shadbolt Mark Winter 1995–1998 Harrington Neil Boniface 1998–2010 Shadbolt Jackie Kruger 2010–2012 Darren Ludlow 2012–2017 Becs Amundsen 2017–2019 Toni Biddle 2019–2020 Nobby Clark 2020–2022 Tom Campbell 2022–2025 Clark Grant Dermody 2025–present Campbell
Timeline
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