Mayor of Chatham Islands

The Mayor of Chatham Islands is the head of the local government of the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, and presides over the Chatham Islands Council.

Mayor of the Chatham Islands Council
Unofficial flag of the Chatham Islands
Incumbent
Monique Croon
since 2019
StyleHer Worship
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderPatrick Smith
Formation1995
DeputyKeri Lea Day
WebsiteOfficial website

Patrick Smith served as mayor of the Chatham Islands from 1992 until his retirement in 2010.[1]

Smith was succeeded by deputy mayor Alfred Preece, who acted as mayor until he was elected to the position in 2010.[1][2][3] Preece had initially been invited to run for council by Mayor Smith.[4] He is the son of Alfred "Bunty" Preece QSO, a former chairman of the Chatham Islands County Council.[5][6][7]

Monique Croon is the current mayor of the Chatham Islands.[8] She was first elected in the 2019 local elections.[9]

List of mayors
Name Term
Patrick Smith QSO 1992-2010
Alfred Preece 2010-2019
Monique Croon 2019-present

List of deputy mayors
Name Term
Alfred Preece[2][4] 2001-2010
Jeffrey Clarke[10][11]  ?-2019
Greg Horler[12][13] 2019-2022
Keri Lea Day[8] 2022-present

Mayoral elections

Mayoral elections take place in the Chatham Islands every 3 years, as part of the wider local elections in New Zealand. Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, a "general election of members of every local authority or community board must be held on the second Saturday in October in every third year" from the date the Act came into effect in 2001.[14]

2001 Chatham Islands mayoral election

This was the first election held following the Local Electoral Act 2001. Patrick Smith won re-election, retaining the mayoralty.

2004 Chatham Islands mayoral election

This election was held using the single transferable vote (STV) system.[15]

Once again, Patrick Smith won re-election.

2007 Chatham Islands mayoral election

The Chatham Islands retained the STV system used in the prior election.[15] Patrick Smith won re-election.

2010 Chatham Islands mayoral election

For this election, the Chatham Islands Council abolished STV and adopted first-past-the-post voting.[16]

On 31 January 2010, Patrick Smith resigned from the mayoralty, and was immediately succeeded as acting mayor by his deputy, Alfred Preece.[1] Preece ran for the 2010 election and retained the mayoralty on 9 October, defeating challenger Joseph Tapara.[17]

2010 Chatham Islands mayoral election[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Alfred Preece (incumbent) 180 75.6% N/A
Independent Joseph Tapara 58 24.4% N/A
Total votes 238 100%

2013 Chatham Islands mayoral election

Tapara unsuccessfully tried to oust Preece a second time in October 2013, only to be defeated by an even wider margin.

2013 Chatham Islands mayoral election[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Alfred Preece (incumbent) 172 85.1% +9.5%
Independent Joseph Tapara 30 14.9% -9.5%
Total votes 202 100%

2016 Chatham Islands mayoral election

Preece won re-election.

2016 Chatham Islands mayoral election[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Alfred Preece (incumbent) 191 73.2% -11.9%
Independent Phillip Christiansen 57 21.8% N/A
Independent Noel Donaldson 13 5% N/A
Total votes 261 100%

2019 Chatham Islands mayoral election

Alfred Preece did not run for the 2019 mayoral election, allowing Monique Croon to take the mayoralty.

2019 Chatham Islands mayoral election[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Monique Croon 96 32.8% N/A
Independent Greg Horler 86 29.6% N/A
Independent Jack Daymond 56 19.1% N/A
Independent Keri Lea Day 41 14% N/A
Independent Alfie Johanson 14 4.8% N/A
Total votes 293 100%

2022 Chatham Islands mayoral election

Croon successfully ran for re-election. Although the election was officially non-partisan,[22] it was analysed within the wider context of polarized public opinion regarding the Sixth Labour Government's Three Waters reform programme. Croon was one of three elected mayors to strongly support Three Waters (in contrast, 6 mayors gave it soft support, 14 were on the fence, 30 gave it soft opposition and 13 gave it strong opposition).[23] After her election victory, Croon gave an interview on Te Ao Māori News.[24]

2022 Chatham Islands mayoral election[25][26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Monique Croon (incumbent) 124 51.7% +18.9%
Independent Greg Horler 116 48.3% +18.7%
Total votes 240 100%
Turnout 240 53%

References
  1. "Chatham Islands' mayor resigns". New Zealand Herald. New Zealand Press Agency. 31 January 2010.
  2. "Owenga Wharf Opened By MP". www.scoop.co.nz. Scoop News. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. Cairns, Lois (10 October 2010). "Wind of change sweeps South Island". Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  4. Le Pla, Ruth (26 July 2015). "Alfred Preece | On just getting things done". NZ Local Government Magazine 1506. Contrafed Publishing. pp. 24–27. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  5. Crean, Mike (4 December 2012). "Old warrior recalls Maori Battalion heroism". Stuff. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  6. "Last surviving officer of Māori Battalion farewelled on Chatham Islands". Newshub. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  7. Davis, Denise; Solomon, Māui. "Moriori - The second dawn". teara.govt.nz. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  8. "Meet the Team". cic.govt.nz. Chatham Islands Council.
  9. SGWN Profile: Monique Croon, Government Woman's Network Te Aka Wāhine o Aotearoa
  10. "Your Council". www.cic.govt.nz. Chatham Islands Council. 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. "Meet the Team". www.cic.govt.nz. Chatham Islands Council. 18 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  12. "Meet the Team". cic.govt.nz. Chatham Islands Council. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  13. "Quickfire questions with the Councillors: Greg Horler (Deputy Mayor)". www.cic.govt.nz. Chatham Islands Council. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  14. "Local Electoral Act 2001". Parliamentary Counsel Office. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  15. https://www.horizons.govt.nz/HRC/media/Media/Agenda-Reports/Regional-Council-Meeting-2014-27-05/1494AnnexA.pdf
  16. https://www.cic.govt.nz/assets/CIC/Documents/CIC-Local-Governance-Statement-2014.pdf
  17. "Comfortable victory for Chathams mayor". RNZ. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  18. "Comfortable victory for Chathams mayor". RNZ. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  19. "Election results: Around the country - NZ Herald". The New Zealand Herald.
  20. https://www.cic.govt.nz/assets/CIC/Documents/Declaration-of-Results-10-Oct-2016.pdf
  21. https://www.cic.govt.nz/assets/CIC/Documents/Final-Election-Results-2019.pdf
  22. "Monique Croon - Candidate for Mayor of Chatham Islands – Local Elections 2022". Policy.nz. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  23. Manhire, Toby (12 October 2022). "Just how big was the 'change' vote, and how many mayors hate Three Waters?". The Spinoff. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  24. Croon's second mayoral term sees her continue to put her 'heart and soul' into it | Te Ao Tapatahi, retrieved 25 November 2022
  25. https://www.cic.govt.nz/your-council/local-elections-2022/
  26. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-body-elections/300706345/local-government-elections-turnout-just-36-special-votes-may-lift-it-to-39
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