Rex S Kirton is a local body politician in the Wellington Region

Wellington Region

The Wellington region of New Zealand occupies the southern end of the North Island.-Governance:The official Wellington Region, as administered by the Wellington Regional Council covers the conurbation around the capital city, Wellington, and the cities of Lower Hutt, Porirua, and Upper Hutt, each...

. He was Mayor of Upper Hutt

Mayor of Upper Hutt

The Mayor of Upper Hutt is the head of the municipal government of Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and presides over the Upper Hutt City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The Upper Hutt Town Board had seven chairmen, with the role regarded as the...

 for 24 years until 2001, and then served three terms on the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Biography

Kirton attended St. Patrick's College, Silverstream

St. Patrick's College, Silverstream

St Patrick's College is an Integrated Catholic boys' day and boarding Secondary School located in Silverstream, Upper Hutt, New Zealand. It was established by the Society of Mary in 1931 when the original St Patrick's College, Wellington was intended to be moved to a larger site more suited to a...

 1955–1959. He lives in Whitemans Valley

Whitemans Valley

Whitemans Valley founded by the Whiteman family in 1871 is a rural suburb of Upper Hutt located in the lower North Island of New Zealand. Situated roughly 4 kilometers south of the Upper Hutt city centre, the area has a variety of farms, lifestyle blocks and a cafe....

 RD1.

Local Government

Kirton was first elected Mayor of Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...

 in 1977. When he retired from this role in 2001, he was the longest serving mayor in New Zealand at that time. In 2001, Kirton stood as the Upper Hutt representative on the Wellington Regional Council. He served three terms until 2010, when he was beaten by Paul Swain

Paul Swain

Paul Desmond Swain, QSO is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party.-Early life:Swain was born in Palmerston North on 20 December 1951. He attended St. Patrick's College in Wellington...

. Swain and Kirton received 5,117 and 3,794 votes, respectively, with two other candidates contesting the election. In 2007, he had been returned unopposed. He was chairman of the regional council's parks, forests and utilities committee.