Ray Wallace (mayor)

William Raymond Wallace ONZM JP (born 1961) is a New Zealand politician. He served as mayor of Lower Hutt from 2010 to 2019.

Ray Wallace ONZM JP
19th Mayor of Lower Hutt
In office 9 October 2010 – 12 October 2019
Deputy	David Bassett
Preceded by	David Ogden
Succeeded by	Campbell Barry
Deputy Mayor of Lower Hutt
In office 2001–2005
Succeeded by	Chris Milne
Personal details
Born	William Raymond Wallace 1961 (age 59–60) Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Political party	Independent National (1990s)
Residence	Wainuiomata, New Zealand

Biography

Early life

Wallace was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in 1961.[1] He received his education at Te Aro Primary, St Mark's Church School and Wellington College. He has worked in real estate, health care, and the security industry.[2] Wallace is married and lives in Wainuiomata.[2]

Political career

Wallace stood for the National Party in the seat of Pencarrow (which covered much of Lower Hutt) at the 1990 general election. He lost to Labour's Sonja Davies.

Wallace was first elected to Hutt City Council in the Wainuiomata ward in 1995, he served as deputy mayor from 2001 to 2005.[2] Wallace first challenged incumbent David Ogden for the mayoralty in 2007 and came a close second in the three-person race.[3] In the 2010 election, only Ogden and Wallace contested the mayoralty, and the latter won with a healthy majority.[4] He won re-election in the 2013 local elections, achieving a significant majority over his only rival, Phil Stratford. Wallace and Stratford received 20,540 and 3,166 votes, respectively.[5]

Wallace was known for his staunch opposition to "Super Cities" in New Zealand and fought against the proposal for one to occur in Wellington.[6] In 2016 Wallace was re-elected to the mayoralty for a third term, 17,011 votes ahead of his nearest rival, James Anderson.[7]

In June 2017 Wallace hit media headlines for his decision to retain rate payer funded meals. The motion was raised by Councillor Campbell Barry who believed elected members should pay for their own meals after the Council decided to introduce what he called "a sham Living Wage Policy".[8] After a 7–6 vote, with Wallace voting in favour of retaining the meals, a public backlash engulfed the Council in controversy.[9]

Wallace was defeated for the mayoralty by Labour Party councillor Campbell Barry at the 2019 local elections.[10] Following his defeat he worked as a real estate agent.[11]

In the 2021 New Year Honours, Wallace was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to local government and the community.[12]

References

1. Stringer, John (1990). 1990 Parliamentary Candidates for the New Zealand National Party. Wellington: New Zealand National Party. p. 61.
2. "Ray Wallace". Hutt City Council. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
3. Boyack, Nicholas (20 July 2010). "Ray Wallace confirms he'll take on Ogden for Hutt mayoralty". The Hutt News. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
4. Nichols, Lane (9 October 2010). "New mayor for Lower Hutt". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
5. "Huge majority for Ray Wallace". The Dominion Post. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
6. "Mayor pushes for stop to super-cities". Stuff.co.nz. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
7. "Winning, just the tonic for ailing Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace". The Dominion Post. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
8. "Hutt mayor gets a roasting over 'sham' living wage decision". Stuff. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
9. "Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace uses casting vote to retain free meals for councillors". Stuff. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
10. "Wallace toppled by Barry in Hutt City". Stuff.co.nz. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
11. Tom Hunt (17 August 2020). "Polarising or popular? Former Hutt mayor's first day in his new job". Stuff. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
12. "New Year honours list 2021". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.