The mayor of Waipā officiates over the

Waipa District Waipa may refer to: New Zealand * Waipa (New Zealand electorate), a former electorate * Waipa District, a territorial local authority * Waipā River The Waipā River is in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The headwate ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. There have been five mayors since the formation of Waipā District in 1989. The incumbent mayor is

Susan O'Regan Susan Catherine O'Regan (born 1972) is a New Zealand politician serving as the mayor of Waipa since 2022. Early life O'Regan was born and raised in Rukuhia. Her mother was Katherine O'Regan, a New Zealand National Party, National MP who represen ...

, who was elected on 8 October 2022.

History

Bruce Berquist was elected the first mayor of Waipā District in 1989, defeating chief executive of Hamilton Airport, Barry O'Connor. Berquist stood down at the 1995 local-body elections, when the mayoralty was contested by

Te Miro Te Miro is an area in the Waipā District of the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Te Miro is situated 31 kilometres east southeast of Hamilton, and 24 kilometres northeast of Cambridge. History The name Te Miro for the area f ...

farmer John Hewitt and the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Katherine O'Regan Katherine Victoria O'Regan (née Newton, 24 May 1946 – 2 May 2018) was a New Zealand politician. She was a member of parliament from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party. She served as a minister for the National Government for six ...

. Most pundits considered that O'Regan would win, but Hewitt was elected with a substantial majority. Hewitt considered resigning the following year when his wife, Joslyn, was diagnosed and subsequently died from bone cancer. However, he remained in office, and was re-elected in 1998 with a majority of 400 votes, before deciding not to seek re-election in 2001. Alan Livingston was elected mayor in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, and served four terms before stepping down in 2013. Livingston later served as chair of the

Waikato Regional Council The Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City, as well as ...

from 2016 to 2019, and 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 sports and the community, in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were 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 are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

. Jim Mylchreest, was first elected in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, with a margin of more than 600 votes over nearest rival Pat Bishop in a four-candidate race. He was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, defeating the only other candidate, Vern Wilson, by over 4500 votes, and was elected unopposed in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In 2022, he lost by 1900 votes to two-term councillor

, whose mother

had missed out on the mayoralty in 1995.

List of officeholders

References

{{Mayors in New Zealand Waipa Waipa Waipa District Waipa