The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, New Zealand, and presides over the Wellington City Council. Adjacent local bodies - Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Porirua - have their own mayors. The Mayor is directly elected using Preferential Voting, commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as STV.

The current Mayor is Celia Wade-Brown, elected in October 2010 and October 2013.

History

The development of local government in Wellington was erratic. The first attempt to establish governmental institutions, the so-called "Wellington Republic", was short lived and based on rules written by the New Zealand Company. Colonel William Wakefield was to be the first President.

When the self-proclaimed government arrested a ship's captain for a violation of Wellington law, the Governor William Hobson quickly asserted British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand, sending a contingent of soldiers to disband the council in Wellington.

In January 1842, the Legislative Council in Auckland passed the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, and in May 1842 Wellington was officially proclaimed a borough, the first municipality with this status. The office of mayor was established, but there were only two holders of this office under the Ordinance.

Wellington (/ˈwɛlɪŋtən/) is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 398,300 residents. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region, which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. Wellington is the world's southernmost capital city of a sovereign state.

The Wellington urban area comprises four cities: Wellington city, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half the population; Porirua on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley.

The 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world. In 2011 Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011 named Wellington as fourth in its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011, referring to it as the "coolest little capital in the world".

Wellington is New Zealand's capital city.

Wellington may also refer to:

People

Armed forces

Wellington is an MBTA station on the Orange Line, located in Medford, Massachusetts, on the Revere Beach Parkway (Route 16), slightly east of its intersection with Route 28. Wellington functions as a park and ride with more than 1,300 spaces, and a bus hub with 10 routes terminating at the station. The Station Landing development, connected to the station by an overhead walkway, includes residential and retail buildings and additional parking.

Wellington Carhouse, the primary repair and maintenance facility for the Orange Line, is located adjacent to the station. The 125,000 square feet (11,600 m²) building can hold three-and-a-half six-car trains.

Station layout

Wellington station consists of two island platforms between the three Orange Line tracks. The western platform serves both inbound and outbound trains, while the eastern platform is used only for outbound trains. It was intended for use by express trains using the third track; however, the planned extension to Reading was cut back to Oak Grove and no express trains were ever run.