The mayor of Far North is the elected head of local government in the

Far North District The Far North District is the northernmost Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority district of New Zealand, consisting of the northern part of the Northland Peninsula in the North Island. It stretches from North Cape (New ...

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 ...

; one of 67 mayors in the country. The largest town in the district is

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is a town in the Bay of Islands, in the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the head of Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the Paci ...

and the council is based in

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about from Auckland, and about from Whangārei. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a pop ...

. The mayor presides over the

Far North District Council Far North District Council () is the territorial authority for the Far North District of New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and th ...

and 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 Moko Tepania, first elected in October 2022 during that year's

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. He is a member of the

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New ...

and

Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa are a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based at the Whangaroa Harbour harbour area in New Zealand's Northland Region. The iwi's rohe (tribal area) covers a coastal area from Kaeo and the Whangaroa Harbour in the east, to Oruai ...

Maori tribes.

Method of election

In August 2020, Far North District councillors unanimously voted to use the single transferable vote (STV) system in future elections. Then mayor John Carter abstained from voting on the issue. A non-binding survey of local residents on the issue received 637 submissions, resulting in 231-to-406 in favour of adopting STV. The council previously used a

first-past-the-post 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 votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system. This change of electoral system will be reconsidered following the 2025 local elections.

List of mayors

References

{{Mayors in New Zealand Far North * Far North Far North District