Chairman of the Christchurch Town Council

Mayor of Christchurch
Coat of arms of the City of Christchurch
Incumbent Lianne Dalziel since 24 October 2013
Style	His/Her Worship
Seat	Christchurch Town Hall
Term length	Three years
Inaugural holder	William Wilson
Formation	1868
Deputy	Andrew Turner
Website	official website

The Mayor of Christchurch is the head of the municipal government of Christchurch, New Zealand, and presides over the Christchurch City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor, Lianne Dalziel, was first elected in the October 2013 mayoral election and was re-elected in October 2016. The current deputy mayor is Andrew Turner.

Christchurch was initially governed by the chairman of the town council. In 1868, the chairman became the city council's first mayor as determined by his fellow city councillors. Since 1875, the mayor is elected by eligible voters and, after an uncontested election, the first election was held in the following year.

Christchurch became a city by Royal charter on 31 July 1856; the first in New Zealand. Since 1862, chairmen were in charge of local government. Five chairmen presided in the initial years:

The town council held a meeting on 10 June 1868 to elect its first mayor. In those days, councillors were elected for three-year terms, and once a year elected one of their group as mayor, i.e. the position was not elected at large (by the voting public) as is the case today.

The following councillors attended the 10 June meeting: William Wilson, James Purvis Jameson, T. Tombs, George Ruddenklau, Henry Thomson, W. A. Sheppard, William Calvert and John Anderson, who chaired the meeting. Thomson moved that Wilson be elected as the first mayor of Christchurch, and Tombs seconded the motion. The chairman put the motion to the meeting and it was carried unanimously. With the meeting, the council had brought itself under the Municipal Corporations Act 1867.

Hence, the last chairman (William Wilson) became the first mayor in 1868. The first chairman (John Hall) became mayor 44 years later in 1906. There have been 46 holders of the position. The longest-serving was Sir Hamish Hay, who held the post for 15 years (5 terms). The shortest mayoralty was by Tommy Taylor in 1911, who died three months after being elected. Wilson's term, at just over six months, was the second shortest. Vicki Buck and the current mayor, Lianne Dalziel, have been the only female mayors so far.