Mayor of Christchurch

The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor, first elected in 2007, is Bob Parker.

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:

	Name	Term
1	John Hall	1862–1863
2	John Ollivier	1863–1864
3	Isaac Luck	1865
4	Edward Brenchley 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, W. 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 45 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 has been the only female mayor so far.

The position of Deputy Mayor was established in 1917.

Five mayors have held non-consecutive terms:

• James Gapes
• Walter Cooper
• Charles Louisson
• Charles Mathew Gray
• Robert Macfarlane

Recent mayors

Two former mayors are alive:

• Vicki Buck (1989–1998)
• Garry Moore (1998–2007)

The most recent deaths were:

• Ron Guthrey (8 September 2008)
• Hamish Hay (7 September 2008)

List of Mayors of Christchurch

	Name	Term
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 Brenchley Bishop	1872–1873
7	Michael Hart	1873–1874
8	Frederick Hobbs	1875–1876
9	James Gapes	1876–1877
10	Henry Thomson	1877–1878
11	Charles Thomas Ick	1878–1880
	James Gapes, 2nd time	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 Mathew Gray	1890–1891
18	William Prudhoe	1891–1892
19	Eden George	1892–1893
20	Thomas Gapes	1893–1894
21	Walter Cooper	1894–1895
22	Henry Joseph Beswick	1895–1896
	Walter Cooper, 2nd time	1896–1897
	Charles Louisson, 2nd time	1897–1899
23	William Reece	1899–1901
24	Arthur Rhodes	1901–1902
25	Henry Wigram	1902–1904
	Charles Mathew Gray, 2nd time	1904–1905
26	John Hall	1906–1907
27	George Payling	1907–1908
28	Charles Allison	1908–1911
29	Thomas Taylor	1911
30	John Joseph Dougall	1911–1912
31	Henry Holland	1912–1919
32	Henry Thacker	1919–1923
33	James Arthur 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
	Robert Macfarlane, 2nd time	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–present