Mayor of Lower Hutt

{{Infobox official post

| post = Mayor

| body = Lower Hutt

| insignia = File:Lower Hutt COA.jpg

| insigniasize =

| insigniacaption = Coat of arms of Lower Hutt

| image = Campbell Barry, January 2025.jpg

| imagecaption = Mayor Campbell Barry in 2025

| incumbent = Campbell Barry

| incumbentsince = 2019

| inaugural = William Fitzherbert

| style = His Worship

| residence =

| termlength = Three years, renewable

| formation = 1891

| first =

| succession =

| salary = $158,000{{cite web |first=Piers |last=Fuller |title=Are our mayors earning their pay rises? |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/117168365/are-our-mayors-earning-their-pay-rises |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=10 November 2019 |access-date=24 March 2023 }}

| website = [https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/council/meet-your-council/the-mayor-of-hutt-city Official website]

| footnotes =

| deputy = Tui Lewis

| member_of = Hutt City Council

}}

The city of Lower Hutt, New Zealand, was first proclaimed a borough on 1 February 1891. Prior to this it had been part of Hutt County, initially as a Roads Board and from 1881 as a Town Board.{{sfn|McGill|1991|pp=119–20}}

Since 2019, the mayor has been Campbell Barry.{{cite web |author=Long, Jessica |author2=Tso, Matthew |title=Lower Hutt elects New Zealand's youngest ever mayor, Campbell Barry |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/116528883/lower-hutt-elects-new-zealands-youngest-ever-mayor-campbell-barry |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=13 October 2019 |access-date=13 October 2019 }}

History

The Hutt County Council was established in 1877, covering the region from Wellington's south coast up to Waikanae, excluding Wellington City. The county council was headed by a chairman rather than a mayor. As the region grew, urban parts of the Hutt County became autonomous boroughs with Lower Hutt becoming its own borough in 1891 with a borough council headed by a mayor to be directly elected by ratepayers. William Fitzherbert was elected unopposed with six borough councillors also being elected.{{sfn|McGill|1991|p=120}} From the 1920s on population grew quickly and in 1941 Lower Hutt became a city after reaching the required population of 20,000 for city status.{{sfn|McGill|1991|pp=152–3}} As a result of the 1989 local government reforms Lower Hutt City amalgamated several of the neighbouring authorities including the Petone Borough Council, Eastbourne Borough Council and Hutt County Council (centred on Wainuiomata) as well as land on the waterfront formerly in the possession of the Wellington Harbour Board.{{sfn|McGill|1991|p=208}} The sitting mayor of Lower Hutt City was elected as mayor of the expanded Hutt City Council in 1989, however retaining the title mayor of Lower Hutt despite the "Lower" being dropped from the name of the council.{{cite news |first1=Audrey |last1=Ewan |first2=Michael |last2=Elphick |title=Lower Hutt embraces Evans-led team |work=The Evening Post |date=16 October 1989 |page=5 }}

The longest-serving mayor was Percy Dowse who held office for twenty years, from 1950 to 1970.{{cite news |title=Mr Percy Dowse, Lower Hutt's Mayor for 20 Years, Dies in Hospital at 72 |work=The Evening Post |date=9 December 1970 |page=6 }}

List of mayors

Mayors of Lower Hutt have been:{{sfn|McGill|1991|p=212}}

;Key

{{legend2|{{party color|Independent politician}}|Independent|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend2|{{party color|Wellington Citizens' Association}}|Citizens'|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend2|{{party color|New Zealand Labour Party}}|Labour|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! ! # ! Name ! Portrait ! colspan="2" width="150" \| Term of office
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 1 \| William Fitzherbert \| 75px \| 1 February 1891 \| 18 November 1898
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 2 \| Walter George Foster \| 75px \| 18 November 1898 \| 5 March 1900
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 3 \| Edmund Percy Bunny \| 75px \| 5 March 1900 \| 24 April 1901
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 4 \| Orton Stevens \| 75px \| 24 April 1901 \| 26 April 1905
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 5 \| Thomas William McDonald \| 75px \| 26 April 1905 \| 1 May 1907
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 6 \| Thomas Peterkin \| 75px \| 1 May 1907 \| 6 May 1909
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! (3) \| Edmund Percy Bunny \| 75px \| 6 May 1909 \| 7 May 1914
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 7 \| Henry Baldwin \| 75px \| 7 May 1914 \| 8 April 1918
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 8 \| Percy Rishworth \| 75px \| 27 April 1918 \| 21 December 1921
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 9 \| Will Strand \| 75px \| 21 December 1921 \| 16 May 1929
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 10 \| Sir Alex Roberts \| 75px \| 16 May 1929 \| 13 May 1931
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! (9) \| Will Strand \| 75px \| 13 May 1931 \| 10 May 1933
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 11 \| Jack Andrews \| 75px \| 10 May 1933 \| 9 June 1947
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 12 \| Ernst Peterson Hay \| 75px \| 9 June 1947 \| 20 January 1949
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 13 \| William Gregory \| 75px \| 14 March 1949 \| 18 November 1950
style="background:{{party color\|New Zealand Labour Party}};"\| ! 14 \| Percy Dowse \| 75px \| 18 November 1950 \| 9 December 1970
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 15 \| Sir John Kennedy-Good \| 75px \| 21 December 1970 \| 24 October 1986
style="background:{{party color\|Lower Hutt Citizens' Association}};"\| ! 16 \| Glen Evans \| 75px \| 24 October 1986 \| 31 October 1995
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 17 \| John Terris \| \| 31 October 1995 \| 10 October 2004
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 18 \| David Ogden \| 75px \| 10 October 2004 \| 9 October 2010
style="background:{{party color\|Independent politician}};"\| ! 19 \| Ray Wallace \| 75px \| 9 October 2010 \| 12 October 2019
style="background:{{party color\|New Zealand Labour Party}};"\| ! 20 \| Campbell Barry \| 75px \| 12 October 2019 \| present

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! #

! Name

! Portrait

! colspan="2" width="150" | Term of office

style="background:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

! 1

Mayor of Lower Hutt

History

List of mayors

=List of deputy mayors=

Notes

References