The mayor of Ashburton is the elected head of local government in the Ashburton District of New Zealand's South Island; one of 67 mayors in the country. The mayor is based in the principal town (and namesake) of the district, Ashburton. The mayor presides over the Ashburton District Council and is directly elected using the first-past-the-post method.
From 1878 until the 1989 local government reforms, the area was administered by a borough council. Liz McMillan is the current mayor of Ashburton; she was first elected in the 2025 local elections.
History The Ashburton Borough Council was inaugurated in 1878. The first mayor was Thomas Bullock, who was elected on 2 September 1878. Nine borough councillors were elected on 5 September and the first council meeting was held on 9 September. Hugo Friedlander was the second mayor when he resigned in July 1892 as he had urgent business in England to attend to. Henry Davis was declared elected unopposed for 12 years in a row. The first time he had an opponent, in April 1915, he was defeated.
Methven farmer Angus McKay was mayor for two terms from the 2010 local elections to 2016. Donna Favel was the mayor of Ashburton between 2016 and 2019. Since 2019, the current mayor has been Neil Brown; he was sworn in on 24 October.
List of mayors of Ashburton PhotoNameTermAshburton Borough Council 1878–19891 Thomas Bullock2 September 1878 – 17 December 18792 Hugo Friedlander17 December 1879 – 21 December 18813 Donald Williamson 21 December 1881 – November 18844 Rudolph Friedlander November 1884 – November 18865 Thomas Sealy November 1886 – November 18876 Alfred Harrison November 1887 – November 18887 David Thomas November 1888 – 17 December 1890(2) Hugo Friedlander (2nd term) 17 December 1890 – July 18928 Richard Bird 28 July 1892 – November 18939 John Orr November 1893 – November 189410 Joseph Sealy November 1894 – November 189711 Charles Reid November 1897 – 21 December 1898(2) Hugo Friedlander (3rd term) 21 December 1898 – 8 May 190112 William Henry Collins8 May 1901 – April 190313 Henry DavisApril 1903 – April 191514 Robert Galbraith5 May 1915 – 31 December 193015 Robert Kerr 12 January – 18 May 193116 William Woods 18 May 1931 – 18 May 193817 Dr. George Inglis Miller † 18 May 1938 – 7 November 194018 Dr. John Connor 13 November 1940 – 1 June 194419 Ernest Cook Bathurst 1 June 1944 – 195620 Archibald A. McDonald 1956–195921 John Davidson 1959–196822 George Glassey 1968–197123 Darcy O. Digby 1971–197724 Geoff Geering 1977–1989Ashburton District Council 1989–present(24) Geoff Geering continued 1989–199525 Murray Anderson 1995–200426 Bede O'Malley 2004–201027 Angus McKay 2010–201628 Donna Favel 2016–201929 Neil Brown 2019–202530 Liz McMillan 2025–present† died in office
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