The mayor of Waipā officiates over the Waipa District of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. There have been five mayors since the formation of Waipā District in 1989. The incumbent mayor is

Susan O'Regan Susan Catherine O'Regan (born ) is a New Zealand politician serving as the mayor of Waipa since 2022. Early life O'Regan was born and raised in Rukuhia. Her mother was Katherine O'Regan, a National MP who represented . She boarded at Waikato Dioce ...

, who was elected on 8 October 2022.

History

Bruce Berquist was elected the first mayor of Waipā District in 1989, defeating chief executive of Hamilton Airport, Barry O'Connor. Berquist stood down at the 1995 local-body elections, when the mayoralty was contested by Te Miro farmer John Hewitt and the National Party MP Katherine O'Regan. Most pundits considered that O'Regan would win, but Hewitt was elected with a substantial majority. Hewitt considered resigning the following year when his wife, Joslyn, was diagnosed and subsequently died from bone cancer. However, he remained in office, and was re-elected in 1998 with a majority of 400 votes, before deciding not to seek re-election in 2001. Alan Livingston was elected mayor in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, and served four terms before stepping down in 2013. Livingston later served as chair of the Waikato Regional Council from 2016 to 2019, and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to sports and the community, in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. Jim Mylchreest, was first elected in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, with a margin of more than 600 votes over nearest rival Pat Bishop in a four-candidate race. He was re-elected in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, defeating the only other candidate, Vern Wilson, by over 4500 votes, and was elected unopposed in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. In 2022, he lost by 1900 votes to two-term councillor

, whose mother Katherine O'Regan had missed out on the mayoralty in 1995.

List of officeholders

References

{{Mayors in New Zealand Waipa Waipa Waipa District Waipa