The Mayor of Invercargill is the head of the municipal government of Invercargill

Invercargill

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

, New Zealand, and presides over the Invercargill City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system

First-past-the-post

First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...

. The current mayor is Tim Shadbolt

Tim Shadbolt

Timothy Richard "Tim" Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He is the Mayor of Invercargill and was previously Mayor of Waitemata City.-Early life:...

, who is also the longest serving mayor for Invercargill (15 years as of 2011). There have been 43 mayors so far.

History

Invercargill was first proclaimed a municipality in June 1871. On 26 August of that year, the first mayoral elections were held, and William Wood

William Wood (New Zealand)

William Wood was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1866 to 1870, when he retired, and then the Mataura electorate from 1876 to 1878, when he resigned....

 was elected as first mayor, defeating J.W. Mitchell by 191 to 140 votes. Unlike other municipalities, the mayor has always been elected "at large" (i.e., by the public), rather than (as for example in Christchurch

Mayor of Christchurch

The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system...

) the councillors choosing one of their group.

Originally, mayoral elections were held on an annual basis. From 1915, mayors were elected for a two-year term; and, from 1935, the mayoral term was three years.

When David Roche resigned the mayoralty in 1887, council appointed Aaron Blacke as mayor until an extraordinary election could be held. This was not done in strict accordance with the law, and Blacke is not included in official lists of Mayors of Invercargill.

Greater Invercargill was created on 10 January 1910 during Charles Steven Longuet's reign.

Invercargill was proclaimed a city on 1 March 1930 during John D. Campbell's mayoralty.

There has been one woman mayor so far – Eve Poole. She has been the only Jewish mayor so far. A library building is named after her. She died in office in 1992. Tim Shadbolt

Tim Shadbolt

Timothy Richard "Tim" Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He is the Mayor of Invercargill and was previously Mayor of Waitemata City.-Early life:...

 was invited to run in the resulting by-election and claimed a surprising victory. Shadbolt is the current mayor. The 2010 election win made Shadbolt the longest serving mayor in New Zealand, with this being his 8th mayoral term (his 6th term in Invercargill).

Members of Parliament

Seven former mayors have also been Members of Parliament, and all of them represented the Invercargill electorate

Invercargill (New Zealand electorate)

Invercargill is an electorate of the Parliament of New Zealand that has existed since 1866. The current representative is Eric Roy.-Population centres:The electorate covers Invercargill city and the surrounding rural area, including Stewart Island / Rakiura...

 (the years in brackets give their term in Parliament):

• William Wood
  William Wood (New Zealand)
  William Wood was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1866 to 1870, when he retired, and then the Mataura electorate from 1876 to 1878, when he resigned....
  
   (1866–1870)
• John Cuthbertson
  John Cuthbertson
  John Robert Cuthbertson was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1873 to 1875, when he was defeated. He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1876–77.-References:...
  
   (1873–1875)
• George Lumsden
  George Lumsden
  George Lumsden was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1873–74. He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1875 to 1878, when he resigned.-References:...
  
   (1875–1878)
• James Walker Bain
  James Walker Bain
  James Walker Bain was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1879 to 1881, when he retired. He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1891–1892.-References:...
  
   (1879–1881)
• Joseph Hatch
  Joseph Hatch
  Joseph Hatch was a New Zealand politician, but is now remembered for harvesting penguins and elephant seals for their oil on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island from 1890 to 1919. About two million penguins were killed over nearly three decades. His company J...
  
   (1884–1887)
• Josiah Hanan
  Josiah Hanan
  Josiah Alfred Hanan was a New Zealand politician, cabinet minister, and legislative councillor. He also served as Mayor of Invercargill, and as Chancellor of the University of New Zealand.-Early life:...
  
   (1899–1925)
• Ralph Hanan
  Ralph Hanan
  Josiah Ralph Hanan known as Ralph Hanan was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1946 to 1969, and was a son of Josiah Hanan who had previously held the seat...
  
   (1946–1969)

List of Mayors of Invercargill

Invercargill has had 43 mayors so far:

	Name	Term	Thumbnail
1	William Wood William Wood (New Zealand) William Wood was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1866 to 1870, when he retired, and then the Mataura electorate from 1876 to 1878, when he resigned....	1871–1873
2	George Lumsden George Lumsden George Lumsden was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1873–74. He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1875 to 1878, when he resigned.-References:...	1873–1874
3	Thomas Pratt	1874–1875
4	John Walker Mitchell	1875–1876
5	John Robert Cuthbertson John Cuthbertson John Robert Cuthbertson was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1873 to 1875, when he was defeated. He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1876–77.-References:...	1876–1877
6	Joseph Hatch Joseph Hatch Joseph Hatch was a New Zealand politician, but is now remembered for harvesting penguins and elephant seals for their oil on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island from 1890 to 1919. About two million penguins were killed over nearly three decades. His company J...	1877–1878
	George Lumsden, 2nd period	1878–1879
7	George Goodwillie	1879–1880
8	Nicholas Johnson	1880–1881
9	Henry Jaggers	1881–1882
10	John Kingsland	1882–1883
11	William Shirreffs Moir	1883–1884
12	George Froggatt	1884–1885
13	John Lyon McDonald	1885–1886
14	David Roche	1886–1887
	Aaron BlackeNote that Blacke is not included in official lists of Mayors of Invercargill.	1887
15	Edwin Alfred Tapper	1887–1888
16	Thomas Fleming	1888–1889
	John Walker Mitchell, 2nd period	1889–1890
17	William Horatio Hall	1890–1891
18	James Walker Bain James Walker Bain James Walker Bain was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1879 to 1881, when he retired. He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1891–1892.-References:...	1891–1892
19	Duncan McFarlane	1892–1893
20	Andrew Raeside	1893–1894
21	William Benjamin Scandrett	1894–1895
22	John Sinclair	1895–1896
23	Josiah Hanan Josiah Hanan Josiah Alfred Hanan was a New Zealand politician, cabinet minister, and legislative councillor. He also served as Mayor of Invercargill, and as Chancellor of the University of New Zealand.-Early life:...	1896–1897
24	Hugh Mair	1897–1898
25	John Stead	1898–1899
26	James Smith Goldie	1899–1901
27	Charles Steven Longuet	1901–1903
	George Froggatt, 2nd period	1903–1904
	William Benjamin Scandrett, 2nd period	1904–1909
	Charles Steven Longuet, 2nd period	1909–1910
28	William Alexandra Ott	1910–1912
	William Benjamin Scandrett, 3rd period	1912–1913
	Duncan McFarlane, 2nd period	1913–1917
	John Stead, 2nd period	1917–1921
29	John F. Lillicrap	1921–1923
30	Andrew Bain	1923–1927
31	John Miller	1927–1929
32	John D. Campbell	1929–1931
	John Miller, 2nd period	1931–1938
33	J. Ralph Hanan Ralph Hanan Josiah Ralph Hanan known as Ralph Hanan was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He represented the Invercargill electorate in Parliament from 1946 to 1969, and was a son of Josiah Hanan who had previously held the seat...	1938–1941
34	John Robert Martin	1941–1942
35	Abraham Wachner	1942–1950
36	William Aitchison	1950
37	Brian Hewat	1950–1953
38	Adam Adamson	1953–1962
39	Neil Watson	1962–1971
40	F. Russell Miller	1971–1983
41	Eve Poole	1983–1992
42	Tim Shadbolt Tim Shadbolt Timothy Richard "Tim" Shadbolt is a New Zealand politician. He is the Mayor of Invercargill and was previously Mayor of Waitemata City.-Early life:...	1993–1995
43	David Harrington	1995–1998
	Tim Shadbolt, 2nd period	1998 – present

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.