List of mayors and lord mayors of Newcastle

Last updated

Lord Mayor of Newcastle
Incumbent
Dr Ross Kerridge
since  14 September 2024
Style The Right Worshipful Lord Mayor
Appointer Newcastle City Council
Term length One year (1859–1977)
Four years (1978–date)
Inaugural holder Ald. James Hannell
(Mayor)
Ald. Harry Quinlan
(Lord Mayor)
Formation7 June 1859 (as Mayor)
October 1948 (as Lord Mayor)
Website www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au
Newcastle City Hall, designed by acclaimed theatre architect Henry Eli White, has been the seat of the council since 1929. Newcastle, Australia 022.jpg
Newcastle City Hall, designed by acclaimed theatre architect Henry Eli White, has been the seat of the council since 1929.

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.

Contents

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 of Newcastle is Ross Kerridge, who was elected at the 2024 local government elections.

Mayors (1859–1948)

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

Lord mayors (1948–present)

ImageLord MayorPartyTermNotes
  3x4.svg Harry Quinlan Independent October 1948 –
December 1950
  3x4.svg Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1950 –
December 1951
  3x4.svg Tom Armstrong Independent December 1951 –
December 1952
  3x4.svg Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1952 –
December 1955
  3x4.svg Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1955 –
December 1956
  Charles Jones 1973 (cropped).jpg Charles Jones Labor December 1956 –
December 1957
  3x4.svg Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1957 –
December 1958
  3x4.svg Ernest Dunkle Independent December 1958 –
December 1959
  3x4.svg Frank Purdue Citizens Group December 1959 –
December 1965
  3x4.svg Douglas McDougall Citizens Group December 1965 –
September 1973
  3x4.svg Gordon Anderson Independent September 1973 –
September 1974
  Labor Placeholder.png Joy Cummings Labor September 1974 –
September 1976
  3x4.svg Gordon Anderson Independent September 1976 –
September 1977
  Labor Placeholder.png Joy Cummings Labor September 1977 –
16 April 1984
  3x4.svg Don Geddes Citizens Group 16 April 1984 –
2 October 1984		Acting lord mayor [6]
  3x4.svg Colin SaundersN/A2 October 1984 –
1986		Administrator [7]
  Labor Placeholder.png John McNaughton Labor 1986 –
September 1995
  Labor Placeholder.png Greg Heys Labor September 1995 –
September 1999
  3x4.svg John Tate Independent 11 September 1999 –
8 September 2012
  3x4.svg Jeff McCloy Independent 8 September 2012 –
17 August 2014
  Liberal Placeholder.png Brad Luke Liberal 17 August 2014 –
15 November 2014		Acting lord mayor [8]
  Nuatali Nelmes.png Nuatali Nelmes Labor 15 November 2014 –
14 September 2024
  Ross Kerridge.png Ross Kerridge Independent [9] 14 September 2024 –
present		Elected under the campaign banner 'Our Newcastle' after losing Labor Party preselection, incumbent. [10] Incumbent [11]

Electoral results

2024

This section is an excerpt from 2024 New South Wales mayoral elections § Newcastle.[ edit ]
2024 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Ross Kerridge 35,35034.47+34.47
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 32,75931.94–9.96
Greens Charlotte McCabe15,65615.27+1.07
Liberal Callum Pull13,16712.84+1.14
Independent Milton Caine2,9652.89+2.89
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien2,6622.60+0.7
Total formal votes102,55996.35–0.96
Informal votes3,8903.65+0.96
Turnout 106,44984.21+1.16
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Ross Kerridge 42,16951.68+51.68
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 39,42648.32–11.68
Independent gain from Labor  

2021

This section is an excerpt from 2021 New South Wales mayoral elections § Newcastle.[ edit ]
2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 42,05241.9−0.6
Newcastle IndependentsJohn Church27,32927.3+27.3
Greens John Mackenzie14,25614.2+0.9
Liberal Jenny Barrie11,68311.7−1.3
Independent Rod Holding3,0153.0−1.5
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien1,9401.9−0.2
Total formal votes100,27597.3
Informal votes2,7682.7
Turnout 103,04383.7
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 50,77660.0
Newcastle IndependentsJohn Church33,81940.0
Labor hold Swing N/A

2017

This section is an excerpt from 2017 New South Wales mayoral elections § Newcastle.[ edit ]
2017 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 38,69842.6+0.3
Independent Kath Elliott18,92520.8+20.8
Greens Therese Doyle12,12313.3−0.7
Liberal David Compton (disendorsed)11,77012.9+12.9
Independent Rod Holding4,1204.5+2.7
Independent Ron Brown3,3543.7+3.7
Socialist Alliance Steve O'Brien1,9092.1+2.1
Total formal votes90,89995.2
Informal votes4.8
Turnout 81.1
Three-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 40,02751.8+1.0
Independent Kath Elliott23,37430.3+30.3
Greens Therese Doyle13,80117.9+0.6
Labor hold Swing +1.0

2014 by-election

This section is an excerpt from 2014 Newcastle lord mayoral by-election § Results.[ edit ]
2014 Newcastle lord mayoral by-election [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 35,19842.30
Independent Liberal Brad Luke19,63523.60
Greens Therese Doyle11,66414.02
Independent Aaron Buman9,57011.50
Independent David Chapman4,2405.10
Independent Rod Holding1,5601.87
Australia First Joe Ferguson13411.61
Total formal votes83,20894.27
Informal votes5,0515.73
Turnout 88,25976.86
Three-candidate-preferred result
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 36,44650.77
Independent Liberal Brad Luke22,89231.89
Greens Therese Doyle12,45117.34
Labor gain from Independent Swing N/A

2012

This section is an excerpt from 2012 New South Wales local elections § Newcastle.[ edit ]
2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Independent Jeff McCloy 36,66343.1+43.1
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 24,12828.4+10.5
Greens John Sutton10,02111.8−2.2
Independent Aaron Buman6,2267.3−10.9
Independent Jacqueline Haines4,1864.9+4.9
Independent Bryan Havenhand2,2982.7+2.7
Independent Col Peebles1,4971.8+1.8
Total formal votes85,01994.7
Informal votes5.3
Turnout 82.5
Three-candidate-preferred result
Independent Jeff McCloy 38,32151.0+51.0
Labor Nuatali Nelmes 26,00934.6
Greens John Sutton10,88314.5
Independent gain from Independent Swing N/A

References

  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. ↑ Kerridge stood for election as an independent after loosing Labor preselection and styled his ticket as 'Our Newcastle'. Following the 2024 New South Wales local elections 'Our Newcastle' was established an incorporated association in January of 2025 of which Kerridge was a founding member. It is not registered as a local government party with the New South Wales Electoral Commission.
  10. ↑ "Labor party expels three Independent candidates who tried to resign". www.newcastleherald.com.au. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "About Ross". ournewcastle.info. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "City of Newcastle". ABC News.
  13. ↑ "Distribution of Preferences Report". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
  14. ↑ "Newcastle City Council". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.