Mayor of Porirua

The Mayor of Porirua is the head of the municipal government of Porirua, New Zealand, and presides over the Porirua City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote electoral system. There have been six mayors since the establishment of the borough council in 1962: the current mayor is Anita Baker, who was elected in October 2019.

Mayor of Porirua
Coat of arms of Porirua
Incumbent
Anita Baker
since 2019
StyleHer Worship
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderWhitford Brown
Formation1962
DeputyKylie Wihapi
WebsiteOfficial website

History

The locality was part the Makara County Council, abolished on 31 August 1962. The rural area became part of Hutt County, the urban area becoming Porirua Borough Council.[1] Elections were held in October 1962, and Whitford Brown was elected the first mayor of Porirua.[2] During Brown's term, Porirua achieved city status on 2 October 1965. At the time, this required having a population of at least 20,000.[3]

Brown retired from the mayoralty in 1983.[2] He was succeeded by John Burke, who had been Deputy Mayor since 1977. Burke remained mayor for 15 years (five terms) until 1998.[4]

Jenny Brash was first elected mayor in 1998, succeeding Burke. She held the mayoralty for 12 years (four terms) until her retirement in October 2010.[5] She was a Northern Ward councillor in 1983-89 and 1995-98.[6]

Nick Leggett was elected mayor on 9 October 2010, defeating Deputy Mayor Litea Ah Hoi. He had been endorsed by his predecessor plus former mayor John Burke,[7] and was first elected as a councillor in Porirua in 1998, when he was 19 years old. Aged 31 on his election to mayor, he was at the time the youngest mayor in New Zealand.[8][9] In October 2016, Leggett was succeeded by Mike Tana.

List of mayors of Porirua

Porirua has had six mayors:

Key

  Independent   Labour

# Name Portrait Term Elections
1 Whitford Brown 1962–1983 1962 • 1965 • 1968
1971 • 1974 • 1977
1980
2 John Burke 1983–1998 1983 • 1986 • 1989
1992 • 1995
3 Jenny Brash 1998–2010 1998 • 2001
2004 • 2007
4 Nick Leggett 2010–2016 2010 • 2013
5 Mike Tana 2016–2019 2016
6 Anita Baker 2019–present 2019 • 2022

List of deputy mayors of Porirua
Name Term of office Mayor
Tutuira Wi Neera 1971–1972[10] Brown
John Burke 1977–1983
Jasmine Underhill 1989–2001[11] Burke
Brash
Euon Murrell 2003–2007[12]
Litea Ah Hoi 2007–2010[13]
Liz Kelly 2010–2013[14] Leggett
'Ana Coffey 2013–2016[15]
Izzy Ford 2016–2022 Tana
Baker
Kylie Wihapi 2022–present[16]

References
  1. "NZ Elective Structures Since Colonisation". Porirua City Council. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  2. "Whitford James Richard Brown, CBE, OBE". Porirua City Council. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  3. McLintock, A. H. "Porirua". Te Ara. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  4. "John Brian Burke, QSO". Porirua City Council. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  5. Carroll, Joanne; Jonathan Milne (10 October 2010). "Wellington mayor clings to narrow lead". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  6. "Porirua farewells Jenny Brash". Porirua City Council. 5 October 2010. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  7. "New mayor for Porirua". Radio NZ. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  8. Dando, Kris. "Porirua mayor-elect Nick Leggett 'humbled' by level of support". Kapi-Mana News. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  9. Broun, Britton (11 October 2010). "Porirua's new mayor New Zealand's youngest". Dominion Post. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  10. "Porirua street name changed to match the person it was named after". 25 November 2017.
  11. "Mozzie bites in the morning: The UN sustainable development goals in the Pacific" (PDF).
  12. "Euon Murrell is thrilled to be National candidate for Mana electorate". 28 April 2017.
  13. "Liz Kelly picked as Porirua's deputy mayor". 2 November 2010.
  14. "Experience in spades for Porirua's only female mayoral candidate Liz Kelly". 1 September 2016.
  15. "Who is 'Ana — 'Ana Coffey".
  16. Wong, Justin (18 October 2022). "Porirua's first Māori ward councillor named as new deputy mayor". Dominion Post. Stuff.
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