Rotorua is a city in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua and several other nearby towns. It has an estimated resident population of 58,900, making it the country's 13th largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's second-largest urban area behind Tauranga.
Sir Peter Wilfred Tapsell was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1993 to 1996. He was notable for being the first Māori Speaker, and for being the first Speaker since Bill Barnard in 1943 to hold office while not a member of the governing party.
Sir Howard Leslie Morrison was a New Zealand entertainer. From 1964 until his death in 2009, he was one of New Zealand's leading television and concert performers.
Stephanie Anne "Steve" Chadwick is a New Zealand politician. She served as mayor of Rotorua from 2013 to 2022. She previously held the positions of Minister of Conservation, Women's Affairs, and Associate Health in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.
Anne Merrilyn Tolley is a New Zealand politician and former member of the New Zealand House of Representatives representing the National Party. She was New Zealand's first female Minister of Education from 2008 to 2011 and the first Minister for Children from 2016 to 2017. During the Fifth National Government, she was also Minister of Social Development, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Police and Minister of Local Government. She served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2020. She is currently the Chair of the Commission overseeing the Tauranga City Council, which was appointed after a review in 2020 identified significant governance problems within the council.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait is a New Zealand politician and former chief executive of the Women's Refuge organisation of New Zealand. She is currently a councilor at large for the Rotorua District Council. She previously stood as a candidate for Parliament, serving briefly as deputy leader of the small Christian Heritage Party.
Ben Sandford, is a New Zealand skeleton racer who has competed since 2002. He finished tenth in the men's skeleton event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He finished 11th at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Rotorua Lakes District or Rotorua District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand. It has one urban area of significant size, the city of Rotorua. The district is governed by Rotorua Lakes Council, which is headquartered in Rotorua and is headed by a mayor. The district falls within two regional council areas, with the majority of the area and Rotorua city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the rest in the Waikato region. Tania Tapsell has been the mayor of Rotorua since the 2022 local elections.
Rotorua is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first established in 1919, and has existed continuously since 1954. The current MP for Rotorua is Todd McClay of the National Party, who won the electorate in the 2008 general election from incumbent Labour MP Steve Chadwick.
Tāmati Gerald Coffey is a New Zealand broadcaster, politician, and former Member of Parliament.
Cecil Henry Clinkard was a United Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand, and the first mayor of Rotorua.
Maureen Te Rangi Rere I Waho Waaka was Miss New Zealand 1962, the second Māori woman to win the title. She later became a local-body politician, serving on the Rotorua District Council for 18 years. Of Māori descent, she identified with the Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Whakaue iwi.
Fletcher Hoporona Tabuteau is a New Zealand politician and former Member of Parliament. He was elected as a list MP for the New Zealand First party from 2014 to 2020 and was deputy leader of the party from 2018 to 2020.
The Mayor of South Waikato officiates over the South Waikato District of New Zealand's North Island.
Tania Tapsell is a New Zealand politician. She has served on the Rotorua Lakes District Council since 2013 and was elected mayor of Rotorua at the 2022 local elections. She is the first woman of Māori descent to hold the role.
Rotorua Lakes Council or Rotorua District Council is the territorial authority for the Rotorua District of New Zealand.
The New Zealand Free Speech Union (FSU) is an organisation that advocates for freedom of speech. It was formed as the Free Speech Coalition in 2018 and relaunched as the Free Speech Union in 2021.
The 2022 New Zealand local elections were triennial elections held in New Zealand on Saturday 8 October 2022. Voting began by postal vote on 16 September and ended at noon on 8 October 2022.
The 2022 Rotorua mayoral election took place on 8 October 2022 to determine the Mayor of Rotorua. Incumbent mayor Steve Chadwick did not run for re-election.
Tom Rutherford is a communications executive and New Zealand politician, representing the New Zealand National Party as a Member of Parliament for the Bay of Plenty Electorate since the 2023 New Zealand general election.
