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 a single transferable vote electoral system. As of 2010, there have been four mayors since the establishment of the borough council in 1962. The current mayor is Nick Leggett, who was elected in October 2010.

History

The locality was part of what was then called the Makara County Council. That county was abolished on 31 August 1962, and the rural area given to Hutt County, with the urban area becoming Porirua Borough Council.^[1] Elections were held in October 1962, and Whitford Brown was elected as 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 until her retirement in October 2010.^[5] Prior to her mayoralty, she had been elected as a Northern Ward councillor in 1983 and had held that role until 1989. She had been re-elected in 1995 for another three year term.^[6]

Nick Leggett was elected mayor on 9 October 2010, defeating Deputy Mayor Litea Ah Hoi. Leggett, who had been endorsed by his predecessor,^[7] was first elected as a councillor for Porirua in 1998, when he was 19 years old. Aged 31 on his election to mayor, he is currently the youngest mayor in New Zealand.^[8][9]

List of Mayors of Porirua

Porirua has had four mayors so far:

	Name	Term
1	Whitford Brown	1962–1983
2	John Burke	1983–1998
3	Jenny Brash	1998–2010
4	Nick Leggett	2010 – present

References

1. ^ "NZ Elective Structures Since Colonisation". Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/About-Porirua/Porirua-s-heritage/Porirua-s-natural--cultural-and-historic-heritage/Civic-History/NZ-Elective-Structures-since-colonisation. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Whitford James Richard Brown, CBE, OBE". Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/About-Porirua/Porirua-s-heritage/Porirua-s-natural--cultural-and-historic-heritage/Civic-History/Former-Mayors-of-Porirua-City#brown. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
3. ^ McLintock, A. H.. "Porirua". Te Ara. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/porirua/1. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
4. ^ "John Brian Burke, QSO". Porirua City Council. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/About-Porirua/Porirua-s-heritage/Porirua-s-natural--cultural-and-historic-heritage/Civic-History/Former-Mayors-of-Porirua-City#burke. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
5. ^ Carroll, Joanne; Jonathan Milne (10 October 2010). "Wellington mayor clings to narrow lead". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10679471. Retrieved 27 October 2010. 
6. ^ "Porirua farewells Jenny Brash" (PDF). Porirua City Council. 5 October 2010. p. 1. http://www.pcc.govt.nz/Theme/ModuleLayout/GetImage.aspx?imageid=2a954acd-09bf-4b4f-93b3-b3043f4ec198&downloadnow=true. Retrieved 27 October 2010. 
7. ^ "New mayor for Porirua". Radio NZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/local-elections-2010/59104/new-mayor-for-porirua. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
8. ^ Dando, Kris. "Porirua mayor-elect Nick Leggett 'humbled' by level of support". Kapi-Mana News. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/kapi-mana-news/4219769/Porirua-mayor-elect-Nick-Leggett-humbled-by-level-of-support. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
9. ^ Broun, Britton (11 October 2010). "Porirua's new mayor New Zealand's youngest". Dominion Post. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/local-elections-2010/4217386/Poriruas-new-mayor-New-Zealands-youngest. Retrieved 28 October 2010.