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The Mayor of Upper Hutt is the head of the municipal government of
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...
, New Zealand, and presides over the
Upper Hutt City Council Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city centre lies approximately 26 km north-e ...
. The mayor is directly elected using a
First Past the Post electoral system In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
. The Upper Hutt Town Board had seven chairmen, with the role regarded as the predecessor role of mayor. The Upper Hutt Borough Council was proclaimed in 1926, and with that, the role of mayor was introduced. In 1966, Upper Hutt became a city council. The current mayor, Wayne Guppy, is the eleventh since the role was created in 1926, and he was first elected in 2001.


History

Local government in Upper Hutt commenced with the formation of a Roads Board, which was subsequently incorporated into the Hutt County Council when that body was established in 1876. The road board evolved into a dependent county town board within the County Council's jurisdiction. After a change in local government legislation, the Upper Hutt Town Board was proclaimed in 1908. In 1965, Upper Hutt qualified as a city, and this status was officially conferred in the following year, with Upper Hutt becoming a city council. In 1973, the Hutt County Council, Rimutaka, and parts of Heretaunga Ridings were amalgamated with Upper Hutt, which thus became the second largest council by area (after
Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...
). Further amalgamation happened in 1989, when Heretaunga/Pinehaven District Community Council was incorporated into Upper Hutt. The seventh and last chairman of the town board,
Angus McCurdy Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...
, was elected as the first mayor of the Upper Hutt Borough Council, which was formed in 1926. Peter Robertson was chairman during the years of World War I, and mayor from 1927 to 1931, and again in 1938 until his death in 1939. He died from injuries received in a car crash, colliding with the car of the son of Councillor
James Blewman The Mayor of Upper Hutt is the head of the municipal government of Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and presides over the Upper Hutt City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The Upper Hutt Town Board had s ...
. The resulting by-election was won by Blewman, who beat John Purvis by a majority of 193 votes.
Doris Nicholson The Mayor of Upper Hutt is the head of the municipal government of Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and presides over the Upper Hutt City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The Upper Hutt Town Board had s ...
was mayor from 1971 to 1977. She has been the only woman so far to hold the mayoralty. She was succeeded by
Rex Kirton Rex Stratton Kirton is a New Zealand local-body politician in the Wellington Region. He was mayor of Upper Hutt for 24 years until 2001, and then served three terms on the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Biography Kirton attended St. Patr ...
, who was mayor for 24 years until 2001 and by the time of his retirement from the role, he was New Zealand's longest-serving mayor at that time. He was succeeded by one-term councillor Wayne Guppy, who was elected with a 6,000 vote majority and who has held the mayoralty since then. Unusual for a city in New Zealand, none of the chairmen or mayors of Upper Hutt has been a Member of Parliament. Until 2004,
First Past the Post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
(FPP) was the electoral system used for New Zealand local elections (with few historic exceptions) including in Upper Hutt. The option of using the
Single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
voting system was introduced in 2004, but Upper Hutt continues to use FPP.


Chairmen and mayors


Upper Hutt Town Board Chairmen

The Upper Hutt Town Board had seven chairmen between 1908 and 1926.


Upper Hutt Borough Council

The Upper Hutt Borough Council had eight mayors between 1926 and 1966.


Upper Hutt City Council

The Upper Hutt City Council has had an additional four mayors since its formation in 1966. The last mayor of the borough council was also the first mayor of the city council.


References

{{Mayors in New Zealand
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...
People from Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...