Vicki Susan Buck (born 16 July 1955) is a New Zealand politician. She was Mayor of Christchurch for nine years from 1989 to 1998. Prior to being Mayor,Buck was a city councillor for the Pegasus ward,having been elected as the youngest city councillor in New Zealand at the age of 19. She retired after three mayoral terms,having been very popular.
Buck made a political comeback in the 2013 local elections,as a city councillor for the Riccarton-Wigram ward,and returned the highest number of votes across all city wards. Subsequent to the election,she accepted the deputy mayor role. She decided not to stand in the 2019 local elections,marking the end of her councillorship.
Buck joined the Labour Party in 1972 aged 16.[7] At age 19,she stood in the 1974 Christchurch mayoral election as a Labour candidate for the Pegasus ward. Four seats in the ward were contested by ten candidates. Buck came fifth,narrowly beaten by Peter William Anderson in fourth.[8] Before special votes were counted,it had been thought that she would beat incumbent councillor Bill Massey,a fellow Labour member,who was just 65 votes ahead.[8]
In March 1975,Bill Massey unexpectedly died,triggering a by-election.[9] The Labour Party chose Buck to stand in this by-election,which she won by a large margin.[7][10] At the time,she was New Zealand's youngest city councillor.[11]
Despite her youth,she soon made an impact around the council table and attracted the attention of media. A 1978 reshuffle of council committee chairmanships resulted in the proposal that Buck take over the Community Services Committee,but this was blocked by Mayor Hamish Hay and his colleagues on the Citizens ticket.[11]
In preparation for her October 1989 mayoral bid,Buck resigned from the Labour Party in June that year to be able to run as an independent.[12] She was successful and became the city's first woman mayor. An active and vigorous leader,she is widely credited with leading a turnaround in the perception of Christchurch as a city.
been a member of the New Zealand government's Science and Innovation Advisory Council[14]
been chair of the NZ Learning Discovery Trust,which in turn has set up Discovery 1 and Unlimited state schools in central Christchurch. The schools are based on the student being central in their own individual learning.[15]
initiated the LIFT Trust with five schools in Linwood to create free tertiary education for students who may otherwise not enjoy this because of the fees barrier.[16]
been director and co-founder of Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation,a bio-fuel company using wild algae,and cleaning dirty and contaminated water.[17]
been director and co-founder of Celsias.com,a website for business and community groups which is based on the premise that Governments are not acting quickly enough on climate change and it will be up to all of us to act.[18]
been director and co-founder of Carbonscape,aimed at sequestering carbon from waste biomass through microwave technology.
been on the NZ advisory board of Craigmore Sustainables,involved in carbon forestry.
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.[20] On 12 October 2013,Buck was returned with the highest number of votes of any of the council candidates across the city.[21] In late October,Buck changed her mind and decided to accept the role of deputy mayor,[22] after the role was re-framed to include more than ceremonial duties.[23] She served in this role until 2016.[24]
In June 2019,she announced that she would not be seeking re-election in October.[25]
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