The mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the city of Wellington, one of 67 mayors in New Zealand; they preside over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote method of proportional representation.

The current mayor is Andrew Little, elected in October 2025 for a three-year-term.

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 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.

List of mayors of Wellington Key

Name Portrait 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 • 18821883 • 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 • 19021903 • 1904 16 Thomas William Hislop 4 May 1905 5 May 1909 1905 • 19061907 • 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 • 19151917 • 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 • 19351938 • 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 • 19621965 • 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

Deputy mayor of Wellington

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. List of deputy mayors Key

NameTerm of officeMayorStartEnd1 John Smith 1910 1912 WilfordVacant2 George Frost 1920 1921 LukeVacant3 Martin Luckie 1923 1931 Troup4 William Bennett 1931 1936†Hislop(3) Martin Luckie 1936 1947Appleton5 Robert Macalister 1947 19506 William Stevens 1950 1953Macalister7 Ernest Toop 1953 19568 Harry Nankervis 1956 1960Kitts9 Bill Arcus 1960 196210 Denis McGrath 1962 196511 Matt Benney 1965 196612 Bob Archibald 1966 197013 George Porter 1970 197114 John Jeffries 1971 197415 Ian Lawrence 1974 1983 Fowler16 Gavin Wilson 1983 1986 Lawrence17 Helene Ritchie 1986 1988Belich18 Terry McDavitt 1988 198919 David Watt 1989 1995 Wilde20 Kerry Prendergast 1995 2001 Blumsky21 Alick Shaw 2001 2007Prendergast22 Ian McKinnon 2007 2013Wade-Brown23 Justin Lester 2013 201624 Paul Eagle 2016 2017 Lester25 Jill Day 2017 24 October 201926 Sarah Free 24 October 2019 21 October 2022 Foster27 Laurie Foon 21 October 2022 29 October 2025 Whanau28 Ben McNulty 29 October 2025 Incumbent Little

Timeline

Notes

References

Sources

The Birth of a City: Wellington 1840–1843 by A. H. Carman (1970, Wright & Carman, Wellington) No Mean City by Stuart Perry (1969 booklet, Wellington City Council) includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo of each mayor, including Hunter & Guyton.

External links Mayors of Wellington (with photos, from Wellington City Archives)