Mayor of Tauranga facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mayor of Tauranga
Coat of arms of Tauranga
Incumbent n/a since 2 August 2024
Style	His/Her Worship
Seat	Tauranga
Term length	3 years, renewable
Formation	1882
First holder	George Vesey Stewart
Deputy	Jen Scoular
Salary	$172,918
Website	Official website: https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/about-your-council/mayor-and-councillors

The mayor of Tauranga is the head of local government in Tauranga, New Zealand's fifth-largest city. The mayor presides over the Tauranga City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote method. The current mayor is Mahé Drysdale, elected in the 2024 Tauranga local elections. He assumed office on 2 August.

History

Tauranga was gazetted as a borough in 1882, and achieved sufficient population to become a city in 1963. The 1989 Local Body reforms saw the city become part of the Tauranga District, before the City of Tauranga was reproclaimed in 2004.

Elections for mayor were held annually from 1882 up to 1915, when terms become two years. In 1935 terms were made three years, the current system. The election used first-past-the-post voting up until the 2016 election, then changed to single transferable vote.

One of Tauranga's longest-serving mayors was Canon Charles Jordan, who was mayor for nine years in total over five separate periods. He is the subject of a commemorative statue, unveiled in Tauranga Domain in 1916, four years after his death.

Tenby Powell was elected to the mayoralty in October 2019 but resigned in November 2020, eight months after he was unanimously censured by his council for an angry outburst. Following further mayoral "outbursts," Powell publicly called for the Minister of Local Government to appoint a commission to replace the "dysfunctional" council. The decision to cancel the election for a new mayor and councillors, and the appointment of a Crown commission instead by minister Nanaia Mahuta on 9 February 2021 was not without controversy. A legal opinion by law firm Russell McVeagh found her decision may have been "unlawful" and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges called the decision "dramatic and draconian", while saying that Powell quitting removed "a significant source of friction" and it was reasonable to assume the council would become more functional with the election of a new Mayor and Councillor.

The council and mayor were restored following elections in 2024. Mahé Drysdale was elected as mayor.

List of mayors

Tauranga Borough Council (1882–1963)

	Mayor		Term
1		George Vesey Stewart	1882
2		Richard Coles Jordan	1882–1883
3		Thomas Wrigley	1883–1885
4		Charles Jordan	1885–1886
5		David Lundon	1886–1888
6		James Bodell	1888–1889
7		Robert Sharpe Galbraith	1889–1890
(5)		David Lundon	1890–1893
8		Richard John Gill	1893
9		Charles Angus Clarke	1893–1898
10		Gerard Arnold Ward	1898–1899
11		James Weir Gray	1899–1900
(4)		Charles Jordan	1900–1905
12		William McKenzie Commons	1906–1907
(4)		Charles Jordan	1907–1908
13		John Bull	1908–1909
(4)		Charles Jordan	1909–1910
(13)		John Bull	1910–1911
(4)		Charles Jordan	1911–1912
14		Benjamin Robbins	1912–1915
15		Charles Macmillan	1915–1917
16		John Cuthbert Adams	1917–1919
17		Bradshaw Dive	1919–1929
(14)		Benjamin Robbins	1929–1933
18		Alfred Francis Daly Tunks	1933–1935
19		Lionel Wilkinson	1935–1950
20		Bill Barnard	1950–1952
(19)		Lionel Wilkinson	1952–1956
21		David Mitchell	1956–1963

Tauranga City Council (2003–present)

	Mayor		Term
(27)		Jan Beange	2003–2004
28		Stuart Crosby	2004–2016
29		Greg Brownless	2016–2019
30		Tenby Powell	2019–2020
–	Replaced by Crown commission		2020–2024
31		Mahé Drysdale	2024–

Sources

• Mayors of Tauranga, 1882– Tauranga City Council
• History of Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty