Nick Leggett is the current Mayor of Porirua

Mayor of Porirua

The Mayor of Porirua is the head of the municipal government of Porirua, New Zealand, and presides over the Porirua City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a single transferable vote electoral system. As of 2010, there have been four mayors since the establishment of the borough council...

. He was the youngest mayor in New Zealand at the time of his election in October 2010.

Early life

Leggett was born in Porirua City in either 1978 or 1979. He received his early education from Paremata School and Tawa College

Tawa College

Tawa College is a coeducational school situated in Tawa, New Zealand, and its principal is Murray Lucas. The Tawa College magazine is called Tawahi . There are currently around 80 teaching staff and 20 support staff...

. He graduated with a BA in political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 from Victoria University

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...

. While growing up, he lived in Whitby

Whitby, New Zealand

Whitby, a large suburb of Porirua City, New Zealand, located along much of the southern shore of the Pauatahanui Inlet of Porirua Harbour was comprehensively planned in the 1960s and it has been continuously developed since, with current landscaping and expansion in the hills behind the eastern...

, Plimmerton

Plimmerton

The township of Plimmerton is adjacent to one of the more congenial beaches in the northwest part of the Wellington urban area of Porirua in New Zealand...

, Papakowhai

Papakowhai

Papakowhai is a suburb of Porirua City approximately 22 km north of Wellington in New Zealand.The name "Papakowhai" is of Māori origin, meaning "land covered by kowhai trees". As well as being the name of the suburb it is the name of the main road connecting the suburb to the south...

 and Paremata

Paremata

Paremata is a suburb of Porirua, on the Tasman Sea coast to the north of Wellington, New Zealand.-Early history:The modern suburb, just south of Plimmerton, derives its name from the "Parramatta Barracks", erected on the north shore of Porirua Harbour in about 1846 when the infant government was...

.

Professional life

Leggett worked as a real estate agent, specialising in commercial and industrial sales.

Local body politics

Leggett was first elected to Porirua City Council as a councillor in 1998 when he was aged 19. He wanted to achieve better representation of younger people on council, as 75% of the population were under the age of 45, yet nobody on council was. He was re-elected in 2001, but did not stand for election in 2004. In 2007, he was elected in the Porirua Northern Ward, coming second.

In the October 2010 local body elections, he contested the Porirua mayoralty as one of nine candidates. He was endorsed by the outgoing mayor of twelve years, Jenny Brash

Jenny Brash

Jennifer Sylvia Brash, QSO , known as Jenny Brash, is a former Mayor of Porirua City, Wellington Region, New Zealand. Prior to being Mayor in 1998–2010, she served nine years as a City Councillor...

. Leggett was successful, obtaining 5930 votes, with his closest rival (incumbent deputy mayor Litea Ah Hoi) receiving 2973 votes. Aged 31 in October 2010, he is currently New Zealand's youngest mayor. There have been younger mayors before him, including the late Prime Minister Norman Kirk

Norman Kirk

Norman Eric Kirk was the 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He led the Parliamentary wing of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1974. He was the fourth Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, but the first to be born in New Zealand...

, who was, by the age of 30, mayor of Kaiapoi

Kaiapoi

Kaiapoi is a town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, located close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River, and approximately 17 kilometres north of Christchurch....

in 1953.

Leggett was elected to the Porirua Community Trust in 2004–2007 and was elected for another three year term in 2010.

Family

He currently lives in Plimmerton. His family moved into the Porirua area in the 1950s, where most of them still reside.