The mayor of Tauranga is the head of local government in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, New Zealand's fifth-largest city. The mayor presides over the

Tauranga City Council Tauranga City Council is the Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority for the List of cities in New Zealand, city of Tauranga, New Zealand. The council consists of nine councillors, each elected from one of nine wards, and ...

. The mayor is directly elected using the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

method. The current mayor is

Mahé Drysdale Alexander Mahé Owens Drysdale (born 19 November 1978) is a New Zealand politician and retired rower. Drysdale is a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time world champion in the single sculls. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion ...

, elected in the 2024 Tauranga local elections. He assumed office on 2 August.

History

Tauranga was gazetted as a borough in 1882, and achieved sufficient population to become a city in 1963. The 1989 Local Body reforms saw the city become part of the Tauranga District, before the City of Tauranga was reproclaimed in 2004. Elections for mayor were held annually from 1882 up to 1915, when terms become two years. In 1935 terms were made three years, the current system. The election used

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

up until the 2016 election, then changed to

. One of Tauranga's longest-serving mayors was Canon Charles Jordan, who was mayor for nine years in total over five separate periods. He is the subject of a commemorative statue, unveiled in Tauranga Domain in 1916, four years after his death. Tenby Powell was elected to the mayoralty in October 2019 but resigned in November 2020, eight months after he was unanimously censured by his council for an angry outburst. Following further mayoral "outbursts," Powell publicly called for the Minister of Local Government to appoint a commission to replace the "dysfunctional" council. The decision to cancel the election for a new mayor and councillors, and the appointment of a Crown commission instead by minister

Nanaia Mahuta Nanaia Cybele Mahuta (born 21 August 1970) is a New Zealand former politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand from 2020 to 2023. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Ma ...

on 9 February 2021 was not without controversy. A legal opinion by law firm

Russell McVeagh Russell McVeagh is a New Zealand law firm with offices in Auckland and Wellington. It is one of New Zealand's largest law firms and is ranked highly by law firm ranking guides such as ''The Legal 500'' and ''Chambers and Partners''. History Jo ...

found her decision may have been "unlawful" and Tauranga MP

Simon Bridges Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a New Zealand retired politician, broadcaster and lawyer. He served as Leader of the New Zealand National Party, Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of t ...

called the decision "dramatic and draconian", while saying that Powell quitting removed "a significant source of friction" and it was reasonable to assume the council would become more functional with the election of a new Mayor and Councillor. The council and mayor were restored following elections in 2024.

was elected as mayor.

List of mayors

Notes

References

Sources

Mayors of Tauranga, 1882–
Tauranga City Council
History of Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty
{{Mayors in New Zealand

Tauranga Politics of the Bay of Plenty Region