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Mandy Mayhem
Politician and performer from New Zealand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Amanda Morrison[2] (born 1972)[3] better known as Mandy Mayhem and at times Mandy Mayhem-Bullock,[note 1] is a local politician, celebrant, performer,[4] circus ringmaster,[5] newspaper deliverer,[6] and artist based in Waitati and Dunedin, in New Zealand.
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Early life and family
Mayhem was born in November[1] 1972[3] and raised in Dunedin. Mayhem was 5 years old when her mother moved her family to a 10-hectare property on a hill above a small township. By that time, the cluster of holiday homes had become affordable. She was a participant in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study; its only subjectto become a ringmaster.[6]
School
Mayhem was educated at Waitati School[7] and Otago Girls' High School.[3] She unofficially went to Logan Park High School, by pretending to be a foreign exchange student at the school.[1]
Mayhem moved to Wellington to complete a degree in women's studies at Victoria University of Wellington, while working as "Slaphappy the clown".[6]
Family
Mandy married Lee Bullock[1] in 2016, and has three children, Rose, Max,[8] and Vita.[7] Mayhem earlier donated egg cells, contributing to a friend's births of two other children.[3]
The Mayhem-Bullock family lost a pet horse following a violent criminal attack on the animal in 2019.[9]
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Community involvement
Mayhem runs a monthly community market in Waitati.[10] She is the commander of the pacifist combat arm of the Waitati militia, a satirical "pacifist warfare" group formed over 50 years ago in protest against the Vietnam war.[11] Mayhem is involved with the Coastal Communities Cycleway Connection, is chair of Keep Dunedin Beautiful and a local emergency response co-ordinator.[12]
Performance career
Mayhem worked in Wellington as a clown, then worked for five years with Ridgway Circus, where "Mayhem" was her stage name.[3] She has a third-dan black belt in taekwondo, and considered representing New Zealand in what was then a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.[1]
More recently, Mayhem wrote, directed and performed in a circus rock opera, The Carnival Ain't Over, for the 2021 Dunedin Fringe Festival,[13] and has been organising the annual Wuthering Heights dance-along in the Octagon since 2019.[14]
Political career
Mayhem spent six years as a member of the Dunedin City Council's Waikouaiti-Coast Community Board[15] and was elected to the council in October 2022.[16] As of 2025[update] she is deputy chair of the city council's community services committee.[15]
She is the unofficial mayor of Waitati,[17] a small coastal settlement within Dunedin city.
Mayhem announced in May 2025 that she would contest the mayoralty in the 2025 Dunedin City Council election.[18]
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Political views
Mayhem's 2022 election campaign cited accessibility, sustainability and wellbeing as political priorities.[19]
In a 2023 interview, Mayhem said “I know what it is to be a solo mother. I know what it is to be forced to take budgeting advice at the foodbank," claiming that "older, white men – business people" on the council lack the same lived experience as her.[6]
See also
References
Notes
External links
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