List of mayors and lord mayors of Newcastle

This is a list of mayors and lord mayors of Newcastle and its predecessors, a local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The official title of Lord Mayors while holding office is: The Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Newcastle.

Lord Mayor of Newcastle
StyleThe Right Worshipful Lord Mayor
AppointerNewcastle City Council
Term lengthOne year (1859–1977)
Four years (1978–date)
Inaugural holderAld. James Hannell
(Mayor)
Ald. Harry Quinlan
(Lord Mayor)
Formation7 June 1859 (as Mayor)
October 1948 (as Lord Mayor)
Websitewww.newcastle.nsw.gov.au
Newcastle City Hall, designed by acclaimed theatre architect Henry Eli White, has been the seat of the council since 1929.

First incorporated on 7 June 1859 as the "Municipality of Newcastle", the council became known as "The Borough of Newcastle" on 23 December 1867 following the enactment of The Municipalities Act of 1867, and on 1 April 1938 the "City of Greater Newcastle" was proclaimed. In recognition of Newcastle's role as NSW's second oldest and largest city, the council applied to have the title "Lord Mayor", which was granted in October 1947 by King George VI and applied in October 1948. This made Newcastle the first Australian city that was not a capital to receive such an honour.[1] On 1 April 1949 the official title of the council became the "City of Newcastle".[2]

The current Lord Mayor-Elect of Newcastle is Ross Kerridge, who was elected at the 2024 local government elections.

Mayors (1859–1948)

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Years Mayors[3]
1859–1862 James Hannell
1863–1864 R. D. Bishop
1865 J. Ward
1866 Simon Kemp
1867 W. Brooks[4]
1868–1869 James Hannell
1870 W. A. Spark
1871 James Hannell
1872–1873 Atkinson Tighe
1874–1875 E. A. White
1876 Francis Shaw
1876 David Ludlow
1877–1879 George Wallace
1880 Samuel Chapman
1881 Joseph Creer
1882 Thomas Brooks
1883 William Laing
1884 Stewart Keightley
1885 C. W. Morgan
1886 John Thorn
1887 George William Webb
1888–1889 Henry Buchanan
1890 Colin Christie
1891 William Thomas Gibb
1892 James Rogers
1893 Augustus Frederick Moore
1894 Alfred Asher
1895 William Sharp
1896 Thomas Smith
1897 David Miller
1898 William Kidd
1899 Alfred Timbury
1900 David Miller
1901 W. J. Ellis
1902–1903 William Cann
1904 John Gilbert
1905 Michael Moroney
1906–1907 Arthur James
1908 Andrew Cook
1909–1910 John Christian Reid
1911–1913 Hugh McLachlan Shedden
1914 John Christian Reid
1915 Robert George Kilgour
1916–1917 Michael Moroney
1918–1919 Robert George Kilgour
1920 Robert Gibson
1921 Robert George Kilgour
1922–1923 Henry Cornish
1924 Robert George Kilgour
1925 Morris Light
1926 Henry Cornish
1927–1928 Robert Gibson
1929 Harry Lambert Wheeler
1930 Thomas Blackall
1931–1932 Charles Parker
1933 William McGregor Shedden
1934 Robert George Kilgour
1935 Richard Christie
1936–1937 H. Fenton
1938 Arthur Griffiths[5]
1939 George Jenner
1940 James Wiggins
1941–1942 Walter Young
1943 Ernest Dunkley (Ind)
1944 – December 1946 Roy Norris
December 1946 – October 1948 Harry Quinlan

Lord Mayors (1948–present)

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Image Lord Mayor Party Term Notes
    Harry Quinlan Independent October 1948 –
December 1950
    Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1950 –
December 1951
    Tom Armstrong Independent December 1951 –
December 1952
    Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1952 –
December 1955
    Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1955 –
December 1956
    Charles Jones Labor December 1956 –
December 1957
    Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1957 –
December 1958
    Ernest Dunkle Independent December 1958 –
December 1959
    Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1959 –
December 1965
    Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1965 –
September 1973
    Gordon Anderson Independent September 1973 –
September 1974
    Joy Cummings Labor September 1974 –
September 1976
    Gordon Anderson Independent September 1976 –
September 1977
    Joy Cummings Labor September 1977 –
16 April 1984
    Don Geddes Citizens Group 16 April 1984 –
2 October 1984
Acting lord mayor[6]
    Colin Saunders N/A 2 October 1984 –
1986
Administrator[7]
    John McNaughton Labor 1986 –
September 1995
    Greg Heys Labor September 1995 –
September 1999
    John Tate Independent 11 September 1999 –
8 September 2012
    Jeff McCloy Independent 8 September 2012 –
17 August 2014
    Brad Luke Liberal 17 August 2014 –
15 November 2014
Acting lord mayor[8]
    Nuatali Nelmes Labor 15 November 2014 –
14 September 2024
    Ross Kerridge Independent Labor 14 September 2024 –
present
Elected under the campaign banner 'Our Newcastle'. Former life member of the Labor Party. Incumbent[9]

Electoral results

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2024

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2024 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Our Newcastle Ross Kerridge 35,350 34.47 +34.47
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 32,759 31.94 –9.96
Greens Charlotte McCabe 15,656 15.27 +1.07
Liberal Callum Pull 13,167 12.84 +1.14
Independent Milton Caine 2,965 2.89 +2.89
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien 2,662 2.60 +0.7
Total formal votes 102,559 96.35 –0.96
Informal votes 3,890 3.65 +0.96
Turnout 106,449 84.21 +1.16
Two-candidate-preferred result
Our Newcastle Ross Kerridge 42,169 51.68 +51.68
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 39,426 48.32 –11.68
Our Newcastle gain from Labor Swing

2021

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2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 42,052 41.9 −0.6
Newcastle Independents John Church 27,329 27.3 +27.3
Greens John Mackenzie 14,256 14.2 +0.9
Liberal Jenny Barrie 11,683 11.7 −1.3
Independent Rod Holding 3,015 3.0 −1.5
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien 1,940 1.9 −0.2
Total formal votes 100,275 97.3
Informal votes 2,768 2.7
Turnout 103,043 83.7
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 50,776 60.0
Newcastle Independents John Church 33,819 40.0
Labor hold Swing N/A

2017

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2017 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 38,698 42.6 +0.3
Independent Kath Elliott 18,925 20.8 +20.8
Greens Therese Doyle 12,123 13.3 −0.7
Liberal David Compton (disendorsed) 11,770 12.9 +12.9
Independent Rod Holding 4,120 4.5 +2.7
Independent Ron Brown 3,354 3.7 +3.7
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien 1,909 2.1 +2.1
Total formal votes 90,899 95.2
Informal votes 4.8
Turnout 81.1
Three-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 40,027 51.8 +1.0
Independent Kath Elliott 23,374 30.3 +30.3
Greens Therese Doyle 13,801 17.9 +0.6
Labor hold Swing +1.0

2014 by-election

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2014 Newcastle lord mayoral by-election[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 35,198 42.30
Independent Liberal Brad Luke 19,635 23.60
Greens Therese Doyle 11,664 14.02
Independent Aaron Buman 9,570 11.50
Independent David Chapman 4,240 5.10
Independent Rod Holding 1,560 1.87
Australia First Joe Ferguson 1341 1.61
Total formal votes 83,208 94.27
Informal votes 5,051 5.73
Turnout 88,259 76.86
Three-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 36,446 50.77
Independent Liberal Brad Luke 22,892 31.89
Greens Therese Doyle 12,451 17.34
Labor gain from Independent Swing N/A

2012

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2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Jeff McCloy 36,663 43.1 +43.1
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 24,128 28.4 +10.5
Greens John Sutton 10,021 11.8 −2.2
Independent Aaron Buman 6,226 7.3 −10.9
Independent Jacqueline Haines 4,186 4.9 +4.9
Independent Bryan Havenhand 2,298 2.7 +2.7
Independent Col Peebles 1,497 1.8 +1.8
Total formal votes 85,019 94.7
Informal votes 5.3
Turnout 82.5
Three-candidate-preferred result
Independent Jeff McCloy 38,321 51.0 +51.0
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 26,009 34.6
Greens John Sutton 10,883 14.5
Independent gain from Independent Swing N/A

References

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  1. ^ "Newcastle Has Its First Lord Mayor". Singleton Argus (NSW: 1880-1954). NSW: National Library of Australia. 6 October 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  2. ^ DiGravio, Gionni (30 September 2009). "Sesquicentenary of Local Government in Newcastle". Archives Outside. NSW State Archives. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Mayors, Lord Mayors, Town Clerks & General Managers 1859 - 2009" (PDF). 150 Years - Local Democracy in Newcastle 1859 - 2009. Newcastle City Council. 2009. p. 22. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  4. ^ First Mayor of Newcastle Borough Council.
  5. ^ First Mayor of Greater Newcastle Council.
  6. ^ "Newcastle council dismissed". The Canberra Times. Vol. 59, no. 17, 902. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3 October 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 23 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919.—PROCLAMATION". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 141. New South Wales, Australia. 2 October 1984. p. 4909. Retrieved 23 October 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ GORDON, JASON (14 October 2014). "Luke's independent tilt for mayor". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  9. ^ "About Ross". ournewcastle.info. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  10. ^ "City of Newcastle". ABC News.
  11. ^ "Distribution of Preferences Report". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
  12. ^ "Newcastle City Council". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013.
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