New Zealand politician
Paula Anne Southgate[2] is a New Zealand politician. She has held several positions in local government since 2001. In October 2019 she was elected the Mayor of Hamilton[3] and was re-elected in October 2022.[4]
Early life
Southgate was born in 1963 or 1964[1] to Margaret Southgate[5] and attended Hamilton Girls' High School and the University of Waikato.[6] She worked as a teacher, a counsellor in the mental health sector, and served on two school boards of trustees.[7]
Local government
Southgate served as a councillor on the Waikato Regional Council from 2001 to 2016.[6] In 2013 she was elected to be the council chair over Bob Simcock, with the support of eight out of fourteen councillors.[8]
Southgate ran to be mayor of Hamilton and a Hamilton City Councillor in the 2016 local elections but lost to Andrew King. The election was close, with an election-day margin of nine votes reduced to six votes after a judicial recount. However, she was elected as a city councillor from the East ward.[9]
In the 2019 local elections, although Southgate did not run for a councillor position, she did win the mayoralty with 33.74% of the vote and a majority of 3,137 votes over King, who had proposed renaming Hamilton to Kirikiriroa in spite of public opinion.[10] Geoff Taylor was appointed as her deputy mayor.[11]
Southgate sought and won a second mayoral term in the 2022 local elections.[12][13]
Personal life
Southgate is married to Greg Forsyth and has two daughters and a stepson.[6]
References