The mayor of Waikato officiates over the Waikato District of New Zealand's North Island.^[2]

Aksel Bech is the current mayor, having been elected to the position in the 2025 local elections.^[3][4][5] The previous mayor (2022-25) was Jacqui Church^[6] and, before her, Allan Sanson, a third generation farmer who had served on the council^[7] since 2001 and had been mayor since 2010. His predecessor was another conservative farmer, Peter Harris, who took over the job when the first mayor, another farmer, Angus Macdonald, stood down in 2001.^[8][9] Angus Macdonald died in 2010.^[10] The 2021 salary of the mayor was $148,500.^[11]

List of mayors

There have been five mayors of Waikato.

	Name	Portrait	Term
1	Angus Macdonald		1989–2001[12]
2	Peter Harris		2001–2010[13]
3	Allan Sanson		2010–2022[14]
4	Jacqui Church		2022–2025[15]
5	Aksel Bech		2025-present[3]

List of deputy mayors

References