Annette Kay Main (born 1951/1952) is a New Zealand local-body politician. She served as

mayor of Whanganui The mayor of Whanganui (previously Wanganui) is the head of the Whanganui District Council. Since 1872, there have been 29 mayors. Andrew Tripe is the current mayor. History The Wanganui Town Board was first formed in 1862, and its first chairma ...

from 2010 to 2016, and was the first woman to hold that office.

Early life and family

Main was born in

Castlecliff Castlecliff is a suburb of Whanganui, in the Whanganui District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. The name was given by the Harbour Board, on the suggestion of the future Prime Minister, John Ballance, when it est ...

in Whanganui and attended Castlecliff School and

Whanganui High School Whanganui High School is a large state co-educational New Zealand secondary school located in Whanganui, New Zealand. Founded in 1958, the school has a roll of 1479 students, including international students as of July 2018, making it the largest ...

. She trained as a teacher, before becoming a parent. She worked for

New Zealand Post NZ Post (), shortened from New Zealand Post, is a state-owned enterprise responsible for providing most postal services in New Zealand. The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommunications servi ...

in their public relations department, for the Whanganui District Council as a tourism officer, and then ran a tourism business.

Political career

In 1998 main was elected to the Manawatū-Whanganui Regional Council, where she served for 12 years. During that time she chaired the environment committee and served as deputy chair. In 2010 she was elected mayor of Whanganui, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She was re-elected in 2013. As mayor, she supported the New Zealand Geographic board's decision to change the town's name to include an "h". She did not stand for re-election in 2016, instead successfully pursuing a seat on the Whanganui District Health Board. Main was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to local government, in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. In 2018 she was appointed to the council of the

Universal College of Learning The Universal College of Learning (UCOL) is a New Zealand Government ITP (Industry Training Provider/Polytechnic) with campuses located in Palmerston North, Whanganui, Masterton and Levin. Jasmine Groves is the institute's current Operational ...

References

1950s births Living people Mayors of Wanganui People from Whanganui Women mayors of places in New Zealand Year of birth uncertain Whanganui District Health Board members {{NewZealand-mayor-stub