Gavin Buckley (born 8 February 1963) is a South African-born Australian-American politician and former restaurateur who has been the mayor of Annapolis, Maryland since 2017. Born in South Africa and raised primarily in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, Western Australia, he moved to Annapolis in 1992, eventually opening multiple bars and restaurants in the city. A Democrat, he was elected mayor in 2017, his first bid at elected office, defeating incumbent Republican mayor Mike Pantelides. He was re-elected in 2021. As mayor, Buckley has worked to allow denser development in the City Dock district, drawing opposition from

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

advocates. He was in office during the Capital Gazette shooting on 28 June 2018, and has advocated for stricter

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...

laws in its wake.

Early life and education

Gavin Buckley was born in

Boksburg Boksburg is a city on the East Rand of Gauteng province of South Africa. Gold was discovered in Boksburg in 1887. Boksburg was named after the State Secretary of the South African Republic, W. Eduard Bok. The Main Reef Road linked Boksburg ...

, South Africa, and lived briefly in London before growing up in

, Western Australia. Because their father traveled often for work and then died at an early age, Buckley and his twin, Paul, who di