The Mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North

Palmerston North

Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...

, New Zealand, and presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. Jono Naylor

Jono Naylor

Jono Naylor is a New Zealand local politician for the city of Palmerston North. Naylor became a member of the city council in 2001 and was elected Mayor in 2007, defeating incumbent Heather Tanguay....

, the current mayor, first elected in 2007, was confirmed in a "landslide" in the 2010 local body elections

New Zealand local elections, 2010

The 2010 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections to select local government officials and district health board members. All elections are conducted by postal ballot, with election day being Saturday 9 October 2010.Elected were:...

.

History

The Borough Council was established on 12 July 1877. At the time, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of a native forest that covered inland Manawatu. The population was approximately 800 people. The first elections on 9 August 1877 returned a council with nine members, including George Matthew Snelson

George Matthew Snelson

George Matthew Snelson was the first Mayor of Palmerston North and is considered Palmerston North's founding father. He was an ironmonger, a storekeeper and a community leader.-Early life:...

 as the first mayor. Snelson is regarded as the founding father of Palmerston North.

On 1 August 1930, Palmerston North is officially gazetted as a city, the 7th settlement in New Zealand to have reached the then threshold of 20,000 inhabitants. With that, the Borough Council becomes a City Council.

Council elections were annually at first, and biennial since 1914.

There have been 28 holders of the position. The longest-serving was Augustus Edward Mansford, who held the post for 16 years. Jill White

Jill White

Jacqueline Jill White, known as Jill White is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician.-Local body politics:White was a councillor on Palmerston North City Council from 1983–1992. This was followed by some years in Parliament, a role which she resigned from in 1998 to become Mayor of...

 was the first female mayor in 1998, since followed by Heather Tanguay

Heather Tanguay

Heather Tanguay was Mayor of Palmerston North from 2004 to 2007.In the 2004 local elections, Tanguay defeated incumbent Mark Bell-Booth. At the next local elections in 2007, she was beaten by Jono Naylor with 12524 to 8088 votes. During her mayoralty, Palmerston North City Council signed the...

 in 2004.

Three mayors have held non-consecutive terms:

• George Matthew Snelson (4 separate periods)
• James Linton
• William Thomas Wood
  William Thomas Wood
  William Thomas Wood was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.Wood was active in local body politics. He was elected councillor on the Palmerston North Borough in 1884, 1885–1887, 1892–1895 and again in 1901...
  
  

Four mayors also served as members of Parliament:

• William Thomas Wood (1902–1908)
• James Alfred Nash
  James Alfred Nash
  James Alfred Nash was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand and a Mayor of Palmerston North.-Biography:Nash was born in 1871 in Foxton to Ann Ellen Webster and Norman Nash....
  
   (1918–1935)
• Blair Tennent (1945–1954; 1957–1964)
• Jill White (1993–1998)

Of those, Nash and Tennent have fulfilled the role of mayor and member of parliament concurrently:

• Nash for five years (1918–1923)
• Tennent for two years (1957–1959)

List of Mayors of Palmerston North

The following persons have served as mayor of Palmerston North:

	Name	Term
1	George Matthew Snelson George Matthew Snelson George Matthew Snelson was the first Mayor of Palmerston North and is considered Palmerston North's founding father. He was an ironmonger, a storekeeper and a community leader.-Early life:...	1877–1879
2	James Linton	1879–1882
3	Frits Jenssen	1882–1883
	George Matthew Snelson, 2nd time	1883–1884
	James Linton, 2nd time	1884–1885
4	Alexander Ferguson	1885–1886
5	Ludolph Georg West	1886–1887
6	Solomon Abrahams	1887–1889
	George Matthew Snelson, 3rd time	1889–1892
7	Robert Edwards	1892–1893
8	William Park	1893–1895
9	William Thomas Wood William Thomas Wood William Thomas Wood was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.Wood was active in local body politics. He was elected councillor on the Palmerston North Borough in 1884, 1885–1887, 1892–1895 and again in 1901...	1895–1899
10	Henry Haydon	1899–1901
	George Matthew Snelson, 4th time	1901 – 31 October 1901
	William Thomas Wood, 2nd time	1901–1903
11	Charles Dunk	1903–1904
12	Edward Orr Hurley	1904–1905
13	Maurice Cohen	1905–1907
14	Richard Essex	1907–1908
15	James Alfred Nash James Alfred Nash James Alfred Nash was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand and a Mayor of Palmerston North.-Biography:Nash was born in 1871 in Foxton to Ann Ellen Webster and Norman Nash....	1908–1923
16	Frederick Joseph Nathan	1923–1927
17	Archibald James Graham	1927–1931
18	Augustus Edward Mansford	1931–1947
19	Geoffrey Tremaine	1947–1956
20	Blair Tennent	1956–1959
21	Gilbert Murray Rennie	1959–1969
22	Desmond Barry Black	1969–1971
23	Brian Elwood	1971–1985
24	Paul Rieger Paul Rieger Paul Warren Rieger QSO JP was Mayor of Palmerston North from 1985 to 1998. He is currently deputy chairman of Horizons Regional Council.-References:...	1985–1998
25	Jill White Jill White Jacqueline Jill White, known as Jill White is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician.-Local body politics:White was a councillor on Palmerston North City Council from 1983–1992. This was followed by some years in Parliament, a role which she resigned from in 1998 to become Mayor of...	1998–2001
26	Mark Bell-Booth Mark Bell-Booth Mark Rex Bell-Booth was Mayor of Palmerston North from 2001 to 2004 for one term.Prior to becoming mayor, Bell-Booth was a Palmerston North City Councillor from 1991 to 2001. He became known through his "Save the Avenue" campaign. Bell-Booth is best known for the redevelopment of The Square, which...	2001–2004
27	Heather Tanguay Heather Tanguay Heather Tanguay was Mayor of Palmerston North from 2004 to 2007.In the 2004 local elections, Tanguay defeated incumbent Mark Bell-Booth. At the next local elections in 2007, she was beaten by Jono Naylor with 12524 to 8088 votes. During her mayoralty, Palmerston North City Council signed the...	2004–2007
28	Jono Naylor Jono Naylor Jono Naylor is a New Zealand local politician for the city of Palmerston North. Naylor became a member of the city council in 2001 and was elected Mayor in 2007, defeating incumbent Heather Tanguay....	2007–present