Mayor of Christchurch

The mayor of Christchurch is the elected head of local government in Christchurch, New Zealand; one of 67 mayors in the country. The mayor presides over the Christchurch City Council and is directly elected using the first-past-the-post method. The current mayor, Phil Mauger, was first elected in 2022. The current deputy mayor is Victoria Henstock.

Christchurch was initially governed by the chairman of the town council. In 1868, the chairman became the city council's first mayor as determined by his fellow city councillors. Since 1875, the mayor is elected by eligible voters and, after an uncontested election, the first election was held in the following year.

History

Chairmen of the Town Council

Christchurch became a city by Royal charter on 31 July 1856; the first in New Zealand. Since 1862, chairmen were in charge of local government. Five chairmen presided in the initial years:

NamePortraitTerm 1 John Hall 1862–1863 2 John Ollivier 1863–1864 3 Isaac Luck 1865 4 Edward Bishop 1866 5 William Wilson 1867

Mayors of the City Council

The town council held a meeting on 10 June 1868 to elect its first mayor. In those days, councillors were elected for three-year terms, and once a year elected one of their group as mayor, i.e. the position was not elected at large (by the voting public) as is the case today.

The following councillors attended the 10 June meeting: William Wilson, James Purvis Jameson, T. Tombs, George Ruddenklau, Henry Thomson, W. A. Sheppard, William Calvert and John Anderson, who chaired the meeting. Thomson moved that Wilson be elected as the first mayor of Christchurch, and Tombs seconded the motion. The chairman put the motion to the meeting and it was carried unanimously. With the meeting, the council had brought itself under the Municipal Corporations Act 1867.

Hence, the last chairman (William Wilson) became the first mayor in 1868. The first chairman (John Hall) became mayor 44 years later in 1906. There have been 46 holders of the position. The longest-serving was Sir Hamish Hay, who held the post for 15 years (5 terms). The shortest mayoralty was by Tommy Taylor in 1911, who died three months after being elected. Wilson's term, at just over six months, was the second shortest. Vicki Buck and Lianne Dalziel, have been the only female mayors so far.

Initially, councillors elected one of their own as mayor towards the end of the year, and the role was usually awarded to the most senior councillor. Most elections were unanimous, and the newly elected mayor was instantly regarded as the head of the council. The system changed with the introduction of The Municipal Corporations Acts Amendment Act, 1875, as that legislation stipulated that mayors had to be elected at large (i.e. by eligible voters). Fred Hobbs, the incumbent, was the only candidate nominated, so he was declared elected unopposed on 17 December 1875. James Gapes was the first mayor elected at large on 20 December 1876. The newly elected person was from that point the mayor-elect, until he was sworn in; Gapes was sworn in on 2 January 1877. Despite this, Taylor's death in 1911 resulted in councillors electing their fellow councillor John Joseph Dougall as mayor as required by the legislation for such cases.

Mayors were initially appointed and then elected for one year; elections started following the Municipal Corporations Act of 1876. This was changed to biennial elections "on the last Wednesday in April" with the Municipal Corporations Amendment Act, 1913. The act came into force in March 1915 and thus first applied at the April 1915 mayoral election. The Municipal Corporations Act, 1933 changed the mayoral term to three years, and this commenced with the 1935 mayoral election.

Five mayors have held non-consecutive terms: James Gapes Walter Cooper Charles Louisson Charles Gray Robert Macfarlane

Recent mayors

Four former mayors are alive: Vicki Buck (1989–1998) Garry Moore (1998–2007) Bob Parker (2007–2013) Lianne Dalziel (2013–2022)

List of mayors NamePortraitTerm 1 William Wilson 1868 2 John Anderson 1868–1869 3 Andrew Duncan 1869–1870 4 James Jameson 1870–1871 5 Henry Sawtell 1871–1872 6 Edward Bishop 1872–1873 7 Michael Hart 1873–1874 8 Fred Hobbs 1875–1876 9 James Gapes 1876–1877 10 Henry Thomson 1877–1878 11 Charles Thomas Ick 1878–1880 (9) James Gapes 1880–1881 12 George Ruddenklau 1881–1883 13 Charles Hulbert 1883–1885 14 Aaron Ayers 1885–1887 15 Charles Louisson 1887–1889 16 Samuel Manning 1889–1890 17 Charles Gray 1890–1891 18 William Prudhoe 1891–1892 19 Eden George 1892–1893 20 Thomas Gapes 1893–1894 21 Walter Cooper 1894–1895 22 Harry Beswick 1895–1896 (21) Walter Cooper 1896–1897 (15) Charles Louisson 1897–1899 23 William Reece 1899–1901 24 Arthur Rhodes 1901–1902 25 Henry Wigram 1902–1904 (17) Charles Gray 1904–1905 26 John Hall 1906–1907 27 George Payling 1907–1908 28 Charles Allison 1908–1911 29 Tommy Taylor 1911† 30 John Joseph Dougall 1911–1912 31 Henry Holland 1912–1919 32 Henry Thacker 1919–1923 33 James Flesher 1923–1925 34 Rev John Archer 1925–1931 35 Dan Sullivan 1931–1936 36 John Beanland 1936–1938 37 Robert Macfarlane 1938–1941 38 Ernest Andrews 1941–1950 (37) Robert Macfarlane 1950–1958 39 George Manning 1958–1968 40 Ron Guthrey 1968–1971 41 Neville Pickering 1971–1974 42 Hamish Hay 1974–1989 43 Vicki Buck 1989–1998 44 Garry Moore 1998–2007 45 Bob Parker 2007–2013 46 Lianne Dalziel 2013–2022 47 Phil Mauger 2022–present

List of deputy-mayors of Christchurch

The position of deputy mayor was established in 1917. In the first meeting of the newly elected council on 7 May 1917, Alfred Williams was the first city councillor to be elected to the position. Five deputy-mayors were later elected as mayors: John Beanland, James Flesher, Dan Sullivan, Ernest Andrews, and George Manning. Four deputy-mayors were mayors before they served as deputies: Henry Thacker, John Archer, Robert Macfarlane, and Vicki Buck. Since October 2025, the current deputy mayor is Victoria Henstock, who represents the Papanui ward.

Mayor Term (mayor) Deputy-mayorTerm (deputy) 31 Henry Holland1912–1919 1 Alfred Williams 1917–1919 32 Henry Thacker 1919–1923 2 John Beanland 1919–1921 3 James Flesher 1921–1923 33 James Flesher 1923–1925 4 Arnaud McKellar 1923–1925 34 Rev John Archer 1925–1931 5 Charles Phipp Agar 1925–1927 6 Dan Sullivan 1927–1929 7 Henry Thacker 1929–1931 35 Dan Sullivan 1931–1936 8 Rev John Archer 1931–1935 John Beanland, 2nd time 1935–1936 36 John Beanland 1936–1938 9 Ernest Andrews 1936–1938 37 Robert Macfarlane 1938–1941 10 John Septimus "Jack" Barnett 1938–1941 38 Ernest Andrews 1941–1950 11 Melville Lyons 1941–1947 12 James (Jim) Neil Clarke 1947–1950 Robert Macfarlane, 2nd time 1950–1958 13 George Manning 1950–1958 39 George Manning 1958–1968 14 Leslie George Amos 1958–1959 15 Harold Smith 1959–1971 40 Ron Guthrey 1968–1971 41 Neville Pickering 1971–1974 16 Robert Macfarlane 1971–1974 42 Hamish Hay 1974–1989 17 Peter Skellerup 1974–1980 18 Rex Lester 1980–1983 19 Maurice Carter 1983–1989 43 Vicki Buck 1989–1998 20 Morgan Fahey 1989–1998 44 Garry Moore 1998–2007 21 Lesley Keast 1998–2004 22 Carole Evans 2005–2007 45 Bob Parker 2007–2013 23 Norm Withers 2008–2010 24 Ngaire Button 2011–2013 46 Lianne Dalziel 2013–2022 25 Vicki Buck 2013–2016 26 Andrew Turner 2016–2022 47 Phil Mauger 2022–present27Pauline Cotter2022–202528Victoria Henstock2025–present

Timeline of mayors

Notes

References