Vicki Buck

Vicki Buck
Buck with the Queen during a royal walkabout, Victoria Square, Christchurch, February 1990
43rd Mayor of Christchurch
In office 1989–1998
Preceded by	Hamish Hay
Succeeded by	Garry Moore
Riccarton Ward
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 October 2016
Preceded by	Ward Created
Riccarton-Wigram Ward
In office 24 October 2013 – 08 October 2016 Serving with Jimmy Chen
Preceded by	Helen Broughton
Succeeded by	Ward Abolished
Personal details
Born	1955/1956 (age 60–61)
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour Party (until early 1990s)

Vicki Susan Buck (born 1955/56) was Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand for nine years from 1989. She retired after three terms, having been very popular. She successfully attempted a political comeback, standing in the 2013 local elections in the Riccarton-Wigram ward as councillor for Christchurch City Council, being returned with the highest number of votes across all city wards. She subsequently accepted the role of deputy mayor.

Buck was first elected to Christchurch City Council in a by-election in May 1975 standing for the Labour Party at the age of 19, which made her the youngest city councillor in New Zealand at the time. Despite her youth, she soon made an impact around the council table and attracted the attention of news media. A 1978 reshuffle of council committee chairmanships resulted in the proposal of Buck taking over the Community Services Committee, but this was blocked by Mayor Hamish Hay and his colleagues on the Citizens ticket. She was one of five Local Government Commissioners working from 1984 to 1989 on a major reorganisation of local government in New Zealand.

Buck became the city's first woman mayor in 1989. She stood for mayor as an independent. An active and vigorous leader, she is widely credited with leading a turnaround in the perception of Christchurch as a city.

Her sister Sally Buck had been an elected councillor for Christchurch City Council since 1998, but retired from the city council in October 2013 after five terms.

More recently she has:

In 2008 she was nominated by a panel commissioned by The Guardian newspaper as one of 50 people who could reverse the effects of climate change.

Buck stood as an independent candidate in the 2013 local elections in the Riccarton-Wigram ward as councillor for Christchurch City Council. She supported Lianne Dalziel's mayoral campaign, although initially declined to become deputy mayor. On 12 October 2013, Buck was returned with the highest number of votes of any of the council candidates across the city.

In late October, Buck changed her mind and decided to accept the role of deputy mayor after the role having been re-framed to not just include ceremonial duties.