Paul Kenneth Matheson (born 1947) is a New Zealand politician. He was mayor of Nelson from 1998 to 2007, and was subsequently a Nelson city councillor from 2010 to 2019.

Early life and family

Born in

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

in 1947, the son of an accountant, Matheson was raised in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

from about the age of five.

Political career

He first became involved in politics through membership of the

New Zealand Young Nationals The New Zealand Young Nationals, more commonly called the Young Nats, is the youth wing of the National Party, a centre-right political party in New Zealand, and a member of the International Young Democrat Union. History The National Party ...

in the late 1960s, and served as that organisation's president from 1972 to 1973. He stood as the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

candidate for the Sydenham electorate at the 1975 general election, but was defeated by the incumbent, John Kirk. Matheson was elected to the

Nelson City Council Nelson City Council is a unitary local authority. It has its headquarters in Nelson. History Nelson City Council was created in 1992. Local governance of Nelson began with Nelson Province in 1853, which covered the entire upper South Island ...

in 1989. At the next local-body election in 1992 he did not stand for council, but instead ran for the mayoralty and was defeated by Philip Woollaston. Matheson was returned as a city councillor in 1995 and was elected mayor of Nelson in 1998, this time defeating Woollaston. He was re-elected mayor in 2001 and 2004, but stood down at the 2007 election. He also served as the national chair of the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs youth scheme. In the 2008 New Year Honours, Matheson was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for services to local-body affairs and the community. In 2010, Matheson returned to local-body politics and was elected once again as a Nelson city councillor. He was, however, unsuccessful in his bid for a seat on the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board. He was re-elected as a city councillor in 2013 and was appointed deputy mayor of Nelson. Matheson was the campaign manager for Nelson MP Nick Smith at the 2011 general election. Matheson retired from politics for a second time in 2019.

Personal life

Matheson's wife, Juliana, died of cancer just six weeks before he took office as mayor, and since that time he has been a fundraiser for the Nelson Cancer Society's Daffodil Day appeal. He has three adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Paul 1947 births Living people People from Huntly, New Zealand Mayors of Nelson, New Zealand Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand New Zealand National Party politicians Companions of the Queen's Service Order Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Nelson City Councillors