List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators of Sydney

The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has been directly elected since 1995, replacing the previous system of being internally elected annually by the Councillors, and serves a four-year term. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, at which the incumbent Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, was re-elected to a sixth term. The Lord Mayor is assisted in their work by a Deputy Lord Mayor, who is elected on an annual basis by the elected councillors.

Lord Mayor of Sydney
Incumbent Clover Moore since 27 March 2004
Style	The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor
Appointer	Council of the City of Sydney
Term length	4 years, renewable indefinitely (Since 1995)
Inaugural holder	Charles Windeyer (Mayor) Sir Thomas Hughes (Lord Mayor)
Formation	1842 (as Mayor) 1902 (as Lord Mayor)
Deputy	Robert Kok
Website	Lord Mayor of Sydney

Office history

The office of the Mayor of Sydney along with the City of Sydney was created on 20 July 1842 pursuant to the Sydney City Incorporation Act 1842 by Governor Sir George Gipps. Prior to the first municipal election, the governor nominated magistrate Charles Windeyer to serve as interim mayor.^[1] The first council, consisting of 24 aldermen elected across six wards, was declared elected on 3 November 1842 and first met in the George Street Market Building (now the site of the Queen Victoria Building) on 9 November and elected John Hosking as the first elected mayor of Sydney.^[2]

The title of Mayor (in full: The Right Worshipful the Mayor^[3]) was elevated to "Lord Mayor" on 23 November 1902 by King Edward VII, and as part of this process received the honorific The Right Honourable, a title which attaches to the title of Lord Mayor and not to the individual holding the office.^[4] In December 1915, the Parliament of New South Wales passed the Sydney Corporation (Election of Mayor) Act, 1915 which amended the 1902 act to allow for the governor to appoint the lord mayor should the council be unable to elect a candidate on or before 30 December of any year.^[5] This occurred three times, in 1916, 1920 and 1934.

The office of lord mayor, along with the City of Sydney, was governed by the Sydney Corporation Act, 1932 until the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, which placed Sydney under the terms of the Local Government Act 1919, which governed all other local governments in the state. This meant that the election of lord mayor (until 1971 in December of each year, and then in September) marked the beginning of the term, instead of the previous system, where the lord mayoral term began on 1 January and expired on 31 December. When the City of Sydney Act 1988 was passed, the City of Sydney was once again governed under a separate law, but the election of lord mayor did not change until the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 1995, which allowed for popular direct elections from 1995.^[6]

Vestments of office

As head of the council, the lord mayor is entitled to wear the chains and robes of office, as befitting the ancient status of lord mayor of a large city. In 1902 the Sydney Chamber of Commerce commissioned the first link of a mayoral chain. In 1903, the governor of New South Wales, Sir Harry Rawson presented the first lord mayor, Thomas Hughes, with the chain of office. It features the coat of arms of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and the Stock Exchange and a pendant depicting the coat of arms of Sydney. Successive mayors each added a medallion, on which was embossed their term of office. By 1945, this practice had ended because of the size and weight of the chain. Today, the chain is worn with the robes of office only for rare civic ceremonies, a smaller collar being worn for most civic duties.

The original civic robe for the mayor of Sydney in 1842 was purple, trimmed with ermine and worn with a court dress hat. The current robes worn by the lord mayor and deputy lord mayor are black, trimmed with ermine, and worn with bicorne hat, lace jabot and white gloves. They are worn rarely and only at major civic functions.^[7] Recently, it has become the custom not to wear the robes.

List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators

#	Officeholder	Party/Affiliation		Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1	Charles Windeyer	n/a		Mayor	12 August 1842	9 November 1842	89 days	[1]
2	John Hosking				9 November 1842	1843		[8]
3	James Robert Wilshire				25 September 1843	November 1844		[9]
4	George Allen				November 1844	November 1845		[10]
5	Henry Macdermott				1846	1846
6	Thomas Broughton				1847	1847
7	Joshua Frey Josephson				1848	1848
8	Edward Flood				1849	1849
9	George Hill				1850	1850
10	William Edward Thurlow				1851	1852
11	Daniel Egan				1853	1853
n/a	Gilbert Elliot			Chief Commissioner	1854	1856
	Frederick Orme Darval			Commissioner
	John Rae
12	George Thornton			Mayor	1857	1857
13	John Williams				1858	1858
14	George Smith				1859	1859
15	James Murphy				1860	1860
16	John Sutherland				1861	1861
17	James Oatley				1862	1862
18	Thomas Spence				1863	1863
19	William Speer				1864	1864
20	John Woods				1865	1865
21	John Sutton				1866	1866
22	Charles Moore				1867	1869
23	Walter Renny				1869	1870
24	Michael Chapman				1871	1872
25	James Merriman				1873	1873
26	Stephen Styles Goold				1874	1874
27	Benjamin Palmer				1875	1876
–	James Merriman				1877	1878
28	Charles James Roberts				1879	1879
29	Robert Fowler				1880	1880
30	John Harris				1881	1883
31	John Hardie				1884	1884
32	Thomas Playfair				1 January 1885 (1885-01-01)	31 December 1885 (1885-12-31)	364 days	[11]
33	John Young				1 January 1886	31 December 1886	364 days	[12]
34	Alban Joseph Riley		Independent		1 January 1887	31 December 1887	364 days	[13]
35	John Harris		Independent		1 January 1888	31 December 1889	1 year, 364 days	[14][15]
36	Sydney Burdekin		Independent		1 January 1890	10 April 1891	1 year, 99 days	[16][17][18][19]
37	Sir William Patrick Manning		Independent		10 April 1891	31 December 1894	3 years, 265 days	[20][21][22][23]
38	Samuel Edward Lees		Independent		1 January 1895	31 December 1895	364 days	[24][25]
39	Isaac Ellis Ives		Independent		1 January 1896	31 December 1897	1 year, 364 days	[26][27][28]
40	Sir Matthew Harris		Independent		1 January 1898	31 December 1900	2 years, 364 days	[29][30][31]
41	Sir James Graham		Independent		1 January 1901	31 December 1901	364 days	[32]
42	Thomas Hughes		Independent		1 January 1902	23 November 1902	326 days	[33][34]
				Lord Mayor	23 November 1902	31 December 1903	1 year, 38 days	[4][35]
–	Samuel Edward Lees		Independent		1 January 1904	31 December 1904	365 days	[36]
43	Allen Taylor		Independent		1 January 1905	31 December 1906	2 years, 364 days	[37][38]
–	Thomas Hughes		Independent		1 January 1907	31 December 1908	1 year, 365 days	[39][40]
–	Sir Allen Taylor		Independent		1 January 1909	1 May 1912	3 years, 121 days	[41][42][43][44][45]
44	George Thomas Clarke		Independent		1 May 1912	31 December 1912	244 days	[46][47]
45	Sir Arthur Cocks		Independent		1 January 1913	31 December 1913	364 days	[48]
46	Richard Watkins Richards		Independent		1 January 1914	31 December 1915	1 year, 364 days	[49][50][51][52][53]
47	Richard Meagher		Labor		15 January 1916	31 December 1917	1 year, 350 days	[54]
48	James Joynton Smith		Independent		1 January 1918	31 December 1918	364 days	[55][56][57]
49	John English		Labor		1 January 1919	8 March 1919	66 days	[58][59][60]
–	Sir Richard Watkins Richards		Independent		11 March 1919	12 March 1920	1 year, 1 day	[61][62][63]
50	William Patrick Fitzgerald		Labor		16 March 1920	31 December 1920	290 days	[64]
51	William Lambert				1 January 1921	31 December 1921	364 days	[65][66]
52	William McElhone		Independent		1 January 1922	31 December 1922	364 days	[67][68]
53	David Gilpin		Civic Reform		1 January 1923	31 December 1924	1 year, 365 days	[69][70][71][72]
54	Patrick Vincent Stokes		Labor		1 January 1925	31 December 1926	1 year, 364 days	[73][74]
55	John Harold Mostyn				1 January 1927	3 January 1928	1 year, 2 days	[75][76][77]
n/a	Edmund Patrick Fleming	n/a		Chief Commissioner	3 January 1928	3 October 1928	274 days	[78][79][80]
	John Garlick			Commissioner		30 October 1928	301 days
	Henry Edgar Morton
n/a	John Garlick	n/a		Chief Commissioner	30 October 1928	30 June 1930	1 year, 243 days	[81][82]
	Henry Edgar Morton			Commissioner				[82][83]
	Gordon Bennett
56	Ernest Marks		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	1 July 1930	31 December 1930	183 days	[84]
57	Joseph Jackson				1 January 1931	31 December 1931	364 days	[85][86]
58	Sir Samuel Walder				1 January 1932	31 December 1932	365 days	[87]
59	Richard Hagon		Independent		1 January 1933	31 December 1933	364 days	[88]
60	Sir Alfred Parker		Civic Reform		1 January 1934	18 October 1935	1 year, 290 days	[89][90][91]
61	Arthur McElhone		Independent		22 October 1935	31 December 1935	70 days	[92]
62	Archibald Howie		Civic Reform		1 January 1936	31 December 1937	1 year, 364 days	[93][94]
63	Sir Norman Nock				1 January 1938	31 December 1939	1 year, 364 days	[95][96]
64	Stanley Crick				1 January 1940	31 December 1942	2 years, 364 days	[97][98][99]
65	Reg Bartley				1 January 1943	31 December 1944	1 year, 365 days	[100][101]
66	William Harding				1 January 1945	31 December 1945	364 days	[102]
–	Reg Bartley				1 January 1946	31 December 1948	2 years, 348 days	[103][104][105]
67	Ernest Charles O'Dea		Labor		1 January 1949	9 December 1952	3 years, 361 days	[106][107][108][109]
68	Pat Hills				9 December 1952	30 November 1956	3 years, 357 days	[110]
69	Harry Jensen				1 December 1956	3 December 1965	9 years, 2 days	[111][112]
70	John Armstrong				4 December 1965	13 November 1967	1 year, 344 days	[113]
n/a	Vernon Treatt	n/a		Chief Commissioner	14 November 1967	26 September 1969	1 year, 316 days	[114]
	John Shaw			Deputy Chief Commissioner
	William Pettingell			Commissioner
71	Sir Laurence Emmet McDermott		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	7 October 1969	25 September 1972	2 years, 364 days	[115]
72	David Griffin				25 September 1972	24 September 1973	364 days	[116]
73	Sir Nicholas Shehadie				24 September 1973	26 September 1975	2 years, 2 days	[117][118]
74	Leo Port				26 September 1975	26 August 1978	2 years, 334 days	[119]
75	Nelson Meers				26 August 1978	19 September 1980	2 years, 24 days	[120][121]
76	Doug Sutherland		Labor		20 September 1980	26 March 1987	6 years, 187 days	[122]
n/a	Sir Eric Neal	n/a		Administrator	26 March 1987	6 April 1987	11 days	[123]
				Chief Commissioner	7 April 1987	31 December 1988	1 year, 268 days	[124]
	Sir Nicholas Shehadie			Deputy Chief Commissioner				[125]
	Norman Oakes			Commissioner				[126]
77	Jeremy Bingham		Civic Reform	Lord Mayor	3 January 1989	18 September 1991	2 years, 258 days	[127][128]
78	Frank Sartor		Living Sydney Independents		23 September 1991	7 April 2003	11 years, 201 days	[129][130]
79	Lucy Turnbull				7 April 2003	6 February 2004	305 days	[131][132][133]
n/a	Tony Pooley	n/a		Commissioner	6 February 2004	27 March 2004	50 days	[134]
	Garry Payne
	Lucy Turnbull
80	Clover Moore		Clover Moore Independent Team	Lord Mayor	27 March 2004	Incumbent	20 years, 340 days	[135][136][137]

Deputy Lord Mayor

See Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney

List of town clerks, general managers, and chief executive officers

The first Town Clerk of Sydney was appointed on 3 September 1842 on a provisional basis by the Governor, pending the election of aldermen. When the council was dismissed in December 1853 and replaced by a board of three commissioners, the post of town clerk was left vacant.^[138] The Local Government Act, 1993 removed the requirement that the administrative head of a council be a "Town or Shire Clerk" and specified that the head was to be known as the general manager. The Sydney City Council had previously recognised the changing nature of role in appointing their first general manager in December 1992. In May 2005, the title of general manager was changed to chief executive officer (CEO).^[139]

#	Officeholder	Title	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1	Richard O'Connor	Provisional Town Clerk	3 September 1842	16 November 1842	74 days
2	Charles Henry Chambers	Town Clerk	16 November 1842	27 July 1843	253 days
3	John Rae		27 July 1843	December 1853
4	Charles Henry Woolcott	Town Clerk	1857	1887		[140]
5	Henry J. Daniels		1887	31 January 1898
6	John R. Palmer		19 July 1898	4 October 1899	1 year, 77 days
7	Robert Anderson		24 October 1899	25 January 1901	1 year, 93 days
–	John R. Palmer	Acting Town Clerk	19 February 1901	31 December 1901	315 days
8	Thomas Huggins Nesbitt	Town Clerk	1 January 1902	30 June 1924	22 years, 181 days	[141][142]
9	William Glazebrook Layton		1 July 1924	31 May 1931		[143]
10	Roy Hendy		1 June 1931	28 February 1956	24 years, 272 days	[144]
11	Edward William Adams		1 March 1956	July 1962		[145]
12	Jack Hercules Luscombe		July 1962	30 March 1974		[146][147]
13	Leon Parmeter Carter		1 April 1974	August 1992
14	Graham Joss	Acting Town Clerk	17 August 1992	4 December 1992	109 days
15	Katie Lahey	General Manager	14 December 1992	25 August 1995	2 years, 254 days	[148][149]
16	Greg Maddock		1 February 1996	January 2001
17	Murray Douglas		February 2001	June 2001
18	John Kass	Acting General Manager	July 2001	October 2001
19	Robert Domm	General Manager	November 2001	September 2004		[134]
20	Petar Vladeta	Acting General Manager	October 2004	March 2005
21	Peter Seamer	General Manager	March 2005	May 2005		[150]
		Chief Executive Officer	May 2005	April 2006	11 months
22	Monica Barone		7 August 2006	incumbent	18 years, 207 days	[151]

Election results

In 1995, the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 1995^[152] amended the City of Sydney Act 1988, to allow for popular direct elections of the Lord Mayor from September 1995.

2024

2024 New South Wales mayoral elections: Sydney^[153][154]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	33,018	36.78	–6.12
	Labor	Zann Maxwell	15,392	17.15	+2.45
	Greens	Sylvie Ellsmore	11,617	12.94	+4.64
	Liberal	Lyndon Gannon	10,857	12.09	−3.01
	Weldon Independents	Yvonne Weldon	9,038	10.07	−2.03
	Libertarian	Sean Masters	3,234	3.60	+3.60
	We Love Sydney	Sam Danieli	3,209	3.57	+3.57
	Independent	Susan Ritchie	1,798	2.00	+2.00
	Socialist Alliance	Rachel Evans	918	1.02	+1.02
	Independent	Baiyu Chen	686	0.76	+0.76
Total formal votes			89,767	97.71	−0.89
Informal votes			2,111	2.29	+0.89
Turnout			91,878
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	41,522	62.90	–5.00
	Labor	Zann Maxwell	24,489	37.10	+5.00
	Team Clover hold		Swing	–5.00

This section is an excerpt from 2024 New South Wales mayoral elections § Sydney.[edit]

2021

2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: Sydney^[155]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	50,896	42.9	−14.9
	Liberal	Shauna Jarrett	17,891	15.1	−3.9
	Labor	Linda Scott	17,367	14.7	+4.2
	Unite for Sydney	Yvonne Weldon	14,368	12.1	+12.1
	Greens	Sylvie Ellsmore	9,812	8.3	+3.2
	Small Business	Angela Vithoulkas	8,177	8.9	−0.8
Total formal votes			118,511	98.6	+0.2
Informal votes			1,675	1.4	−0.2
Turnout			120,186	68.7	+8.9
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	60,926	67.9
	Labor	Linda Scott	28,786	32.1
	Team Clover hold		Swing

This section is an excerpt from 2021 New South Wales mayoral elections § Sydney.[edit]

2012

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Sydney^[156]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	34,903	51.1	−5.4
	Liberal	Edward Mandla	11,031	16.1	+2.1
	Labor	Linda Scott	7,124	10.4	−4.6
	Living Sydney Team	Angela Vithoulkas	6,722	9.8	+9.8
	Greens	Irene Doutney	4,462	6.5	−6.9
	Sex Party	Zahra Stardust	2,241	3.3	+3.3
	Independent	Dixie Coulton	1,303	1.9	+1.9
	Housing Action Team	Denis Doherty	557	0.8	+0.8
Total formal votes			68,343	97.4
Informal votes				2.6
Turnout				69.2
	Team Clover hold		Swing	−5.4

This section is an excerpt from 2012 New South Wales local elections § Sydney.[edit]

Notes