{{Short description|none}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox political post |post = Lord Mayor |body = Perth |insignia = |insigniasize = 100px |insigniacaption = |nativename = |image = |alt = |incumbent = Bruce Reynolds |incumbentsince = October 2025 |style = The Right Honourable Lord Mayor |termlength = |formation = 1929{{efn|The position was titled "Chairman" from 1838 to 1879, "Mayor" from 1879 to 1929 and "Lord Mayor" since 1929.}} |succession = |inaugural = James T. Franklin{{efn|James T. Franklin was the first to serve as Lord Mayor. The first Chairman was George Leake and the first Mayor was George Shenton.}} |deputy = |salary = }} [[File:Perth town hall gnangarra 003.jpg|thumb|upright|Photographs of all mayors and lord mayors start from George Shenton on the staircase of the Perth Town Hall]]
The '''lord mayor of Perth''' is the head of the City of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. The position originated as chairman of the Perth Town Trust, which governed the settlement from 1838 to 1858. With the establishment of the Perth City Council in 1858, the leadership title continued to be chairman, becoming mayor in 1880. In 1929, the title was elevated to lord mayor to mark the centenary of the city's founding. This article lists all individuals who have served as chairman, mayor, and lord mayor of Perth.
The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods: *From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia *From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the ''Perth Town Trust'' *From 1858 to present — controlled by the ''Perth City Council'', later renamed ''City of Perth''
==Origins== On 15 June 1837, an Act was proclaimed to ''..provide for the management of roads, streets and other internal communications within the settlement of Western Australia''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38408575 |title=From Village to City |newspaper=Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885-1954) |location=Perth, WA |date=31 August 1939 |accessdate=22 November 2010 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The management and control was vested in a body of trustees consisting of the Justices of the Peace resident in the town; and the proprietors of allotments held in fee simple. The act was repealed in September 1842 and authority was conferred on elected representatives. The first elected Chairman and committee took office on 8 February 1842 and comprised: *Walter Boyd Andrews (Chairman) *George Leake, James Purkis, Peter Broun, W. H. Drake, Richard Jones (committee members) *James Purkis was appointed treasurer
On 23 February 1856 (two years before the dissolution of the Trust), Perth was constituted a city upon the foundation of the Bishopric of Perth through the consecration of the first Anglican Bishop of Perth, Matthew Blagden Hale.
From 1858 to 1880, the President of the Council was styled "Chairman", from 1880 until 1929, the Chairman was termed the "Mayor" and from 1929 the mayor was elevated to the title of "Lord Mayor".
==Chairman, Perth Town Trust (1838–1858)== thumb|right|upright|George Shenton (Jr.) in his mayoral robes. Chairman of Perth City Council from 1876-77; and mayor in 1880-84 and 1886-88. He became Sir George Shenton in 1893.<ref>{{kimberly 1897}} p.11</ref>
{| class=wikitable |- ! Officeholder ! Term |- | George Leake | 1838–1840 |- | Richard Hinds | 1841 |- | Walter Boyd Andrews | 1842 |- | Thomas Helms | 1843–1845 |- | James Purkis | 1846–1848 |- | Thomas Helms<ref>Data supplied by City of Perth indicated D. Scott (assumed to be Captain Daniel Scott) was joint Chairman from 1849. This however, is unlikely as Capt. Scott was based in and had significant responsibilities in Fremantle as harbour-master. In addition, he was mayor of Fremantle Town Trust from 1848 to 1851 as well as 1853–1854 and 1856–1858.</ref> | 1849 |- | Henry Laroche Cole | 1853 |- | George Shenton Sr | 1854–1855 |- | George Shenton Sr; Sir Luke Leake<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=M. |last=Medcalf |title=Sir Luke Samuel Leake (1828–1886) |id2=leake-sir-luke-samuel-4430 |year=1974 |volume=5 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> | 1856 |- | George Shenton Sr | 1857–1858 |- |}
== Chairman, Perth City Council (1858–1879) == {| class=wikitable !Officeholder !Term |- | Henry Laroche Cole | 1858–1860 |- | Julian Carr | 1861–1863 |- | Julian Carr; Alfred Hillman; George Haysom | 1864 |- | Julian Carr | 1865–1868 |- | Julian Carr; George Glyde | 1869 |- | George Glyde | 1870–1873 |- | George Randell | 1874–1875 |- | George Shenton | 1876–1877 |- | Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1877–1879 |- |}
== Mayor, Perth City Council (1880–1929) == thumb|right|upright|Stephen Henry Parker who had four separate terms of office {| class=wikitable !Officeholder !Term |- | George Shenton | 1880 |- | Stephen Henry Parker; George Shenton | 1881 |- | George Shenton | 1882–1884 |- | George Randell | 1885 |- | George Shenton | 1886–1888 |- | Dr Edward Scott | 1889–1891 |- | Edward Keane<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=Kim |last=Roberts |title=Edward Vivien Harvey Keane (1844–1904) |id2=keane-edward-vivien-harvey-3930 |year=1974 |volume=5 |access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> | 1891–1892 |- | Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1892 |- | Alexander Forrest<ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=forrest-alexander-6208 |title=Alexander Forrest (1849–1901) |accessdate=2025-08-22 |first=G. C. |last=Bolton |volume=8 |year=1981 }}</ref> | 1893–1895 |- | Henry Saunders<ref>{{cite wikisource |chapter=Henry John Saunders |wslink=History of West Australia |plaintitle=History of West Australia |year=1897 |page=42}}</ref> | 1895–1898 |- | Alexander Forrest | 1898–1900 |- | William Brookman<ref>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=R. O. |last=Giles |title=William Gordon Brookman (1859–1910) |id2=brookman-william-gordon-5376 |year=1979 |volume=7 |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> | 1900–1901 |- | Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1901 |- | William Loton | 1901–1902 |- | Harry Brown<ref>{{cite news |date=22 November 1902 |title=Annual municipal elections: Perth |page=18 |newspaper=Western Mail |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37542579 |via=Trove |accessdate=25 July 2022}}</ref> | 1902–1905 |- | Sydney Stubbs | 1905–1907 |- | Thomas Molloy | 1908–1909 |- | Richard Paul Vincent<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57974511 |title=DEATH OF R. P. VINCENT. |newspaper=Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) |location=Perth, WA |date=17 July 1921 |accessdate=24 September 2013 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> | 1909–1911 |- | Thomas Molloy | 1911–1912 |- | John Prowse{{efn|name=Nathan|The Australian Dictionary of Biography states Charles Nathan served as mayor in 1914,<ref>David Mossenson, [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nathan-sir-charles-samuel-7727/text13537 Nathan, Sir Charles Samuel (1870–1936)] – Australian Dictionary of Biography, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed 18 June 2015.</ref> but contemporary sources state that Prowse was succeeded directly by Nicholson.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28576319 "THE NEW MAYOR."] – ''The West Australian'', 3 December 1914.</ref>}} | 1913–1914 |- | John Nicholson{{efn|name=Nathan}} | 1914–1915 |- | Frank Rea | 1916–1917 |- | Sir William Lathlain | 1918–1923 |- | James Franklin | 1923–1929 |- |}
==Lord Mayor, Perth City Council (since 1929)== {| class="wikitable" !Officeholder !Term |- | Hon James T Franklin | 1929–1930 |- | Hon Sir William Lathlain | 1930–1932 |- | Hon James T Franklin | 1932–1934 |- | Joseph J. Poynton | 1934–1937 |- | Charles Harper | 1937–1939 |- | Sir Thomas William Meagher | 1940–1945 |- | Sir Joseph Totterdell | 1946–1953 |- | James Murray | 1953–1955 |- | Sir Harry Howard | 1955–1964 |- | Charles J. B. Veryard | 1964–1967 |- | Sir Thomas Wardle | 1967–1972 |- | Ernest Henry Lee-Steere | 1972–1978 |- | Sir Fred Chaney | 1978–1982 |- | Mick Michael | 1982–1988 |- | Chas Hopkins | 1988–1991 |- | Rt Hon Reg Withers | 1991–1994 |- | Dr Peter Nattrass | 1995–2007 |- | Lisa Scaffidi | 20 October 2007 – 2 March 2018 |- |''None''{{efn|The City of Perth was run by appointed commissioners from 2 March 2018 to 18 October 2020.<ref name="templeman">{{cite news|author1=Hon David Templeman MP|title=City of Perth council suspended, inquiry panel to determine fate|url=https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/03/City-of-Perth-council-suspended-inquiry-panel-to-determine-fate.aspx|accessdate=9 May 2018|publisher=Western Australian Government|date=2 March 2018|format=Media Release|archive-date=9 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509220459/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/03/City-of-Perth-council-suspended-inquiry-panel-to-determine-fate.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Chair Commissioner and new Commissioner appointed |url=https://www.perth.wa.gov.au/news-and-updates/all-news/chair-commissioner-and-new-commissioner-appointed |accessdate=9 February 2020 |publisher=City of Perth |date=9 August 2019}}</ref>}} |2 March 2018 – 18 October 2020 |- | Basil Zempilas |19 October 2020 – March 2025<ref>{{Cite web|last=Warriner|first=Jessica|date=2020-10-17|title=Radio and TV host Basil Zempilas elected new Perth Lord Mayor|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-18/basil-zempilas-elected-new-perth-lord-mayor/12778660|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029121748/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-18/basil-zempilas-elected-new-perth-lord-mayor/12778660|archive-date=2020-10-29|access-date=2020-11-01|website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref> |- |''None'' |March 2025 – October 2025<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elected Members |url=https://perth.wa.gov.au/council/about-council/elected-members |access-date=2025-05-12 |publisher=City of Perth |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zempilas |first=Basil |date=20 March 2025 |title=Message from the Lord Mayor 20 March 2025 |url=https://perth.wa.gov.au/news-and-updates/all-news/message-from-the-lord-mayor-20-march-2025 |access-date=2025-05-12 |publisher=City of Perth|language=en}}</ref> |- |Bruce Reynolds |October 2025 – present |}
==Electoral results== ===2023===
{{Election box begin |title = 2023 Western Australian mayoral elections: Perth<ref>{{cite web |title=2023 Ordinary Election - Perth |url=https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/elections/local/election#/4b5bb626-1be6-479e-95da-471446ac825e/Perth |publisher=Western Australian Electoral Commission |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240325121852/https://www.elections.wa.gov.au/elections/local/election#/4b5bb626-1be6-479e-95da-471446ac825e/Perth |archive-date=25 March 2024 |url-status=live |location=Perth WA}}</ref> }} {{Election box candidate AU party |party = Independent |candidate = Basil Zempilas |votes = 3,264 |percentage = 56.50 |change = +27.06 }} {{Election box candidate AU party |party = Independent |candidate = Sandy Anghie |votes = 2,108 |percentage = 36.49 |change = +26.92 }} {{Election box candidate AU party |party = Independent |candidate = Will Leyland |votes = 405 |percentage = 7.01 |change = +7.01 }} {{Election box formal |votes = 5,777 |percentage = 99.26 |change = }} {{Election box informal |votes = 43 |percentage = 0.74 |change = }} {{Election box turnout |votes = 5,820 |percentage = 34.51 |change = −6.78 }} {{Election box hold AU party |winner = Independent |swing = +27.06 }} {{Election box end}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== *{{cite journal|journal=Early Days|title=The Story of the Municipal Development Of Our City|author=W.E. Bold, (Town Clerk)|date=October 1939|volume=II|pages=29–41}} *{{cite news|work=The West Australian|date=25 June 2007|title=Perth "lost" history found in old safe|author=Perry, Philippa|pages=11}}
== External links == * [http://www.perth.wa.gov.au/council/council-profile/elected-members Page at the Perth City website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524211333/http://www.perth.wa.gov.au/council/council-profile/elected-members |date=24 May 2016 }}
{{Lists of local government leaders in Western Australia}}
Perth Perth *