List of mayors of New Westminster

The mayor of New Westminster, British Columbia, is the head of the municipal government of New Westminster, and acts as the presiding officer of New Westminster City Council meetings. They are elected alongside the rest of city council every four years during the British Columbia municipal elections, although there are no limits to how many terms a mayor may serve.^[1] Prior to 1873, the head of the local government was titled the president of New Westminster, and was appointed by members of the municipal council, rather than being directly elected by New Westminster's residents.^[2][3][4] The current mayor of New Westminster is Patrick Johnstone, who is the 38th mayor of the city.^[3] Mayor Johnstone is also the first mayor who was elected as a member of an official municipal political party.

Mayor of New Westminster
Incumbent Patrick Johnstone since November 7, 2022
Style	His Worship Mayor (informal)
Member of	New Westminster City Council
Reports to	New Westminster City Council
Seat	New Westminster City Hall
Term length	Four years, renewable
Constituting instrument	Municipal Council Act, 1860 Municipal Act, 1872
Inaugural holder	Leonard McClure (president) James Cunningham (mayor)
Formation	President: 1860; 165 years ago (1860) Mayor: 1873; 152 years ago (1873)
Website	www.newwestcity.ca/city_hall/mayor_and_council/mayor.php

List

Note: Any affiliations with provincial political parties will only be listed if the person was known to have served in a party caucus of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

Appointed by City Council (president)

#	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party
1	Leonard McClure	1860	1861		Independent
2	John Ramage	1861	1862		Independent
3	Henry Holbrook	1862	1863		Independent
4	Robert Dickinson	1863	1864		Independent
5	William Clarkson	1864	1865		Independent
6	William J. Armstrong	1865	1866		Independent
7	John Robson	1866	1867		Independent
(3)	Henry Holbrook	1867	1869		Independent
(6)	William J. Armstrong	1869	1871		Independent
(5)	William Clarkson	1871	1872		Independent

Elected directly by the public (mayor)

#	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party
8	James Cunningham	1873	1873		Independent
(4)	Robert Dickinson	1874	1875		Independent
9	Thomas R. McInnes	1876	1877		Independent
(3)	Henry Holbrook	1878	1878		Independent
10	W.D. Ferris	1979	1979		Independent
(4)	Robert Dickinson	1880	1881		Independent
11	Loftus R. McInnes	1882	1882		Independent
12	Henry Edmonds	1883	1883		Independent
(4)	Robert Dickinson	1883	1888		Independent
13	John Hendry	1889	1889		Independent
14	W.B. Townsend	1889	1889		Independent
15	John Brown	1890	1891		Independent
(14)	W.B. Townsend	1892	1892		Independent
16	D.S. Curtis	1893	1893		Independent
17	Henry Hoy[a]	1894	1894		Independent
18	B.W. Shiles	1895	1897		Independent
19	Thomas Ovens	1898	1899		Independent
20	J.T. Scott	1900	1901		Independent
21	W.H. Keary	1902	1909		Independent
22	John A. Lee	1910	1912		Independent
23	Arthur "Wells" Gray	1913	1919		Liberal[n 1]
24	J. J. Johnston[b]	1920	1922		Independent
25	T.S. Annandale	1923	1926		Independent
(23)	Arthur "Wells" Gray	1927	1933[c]		Liberal[n 1]
26	Fred J. Hume	1934	1942		Independent
27	William Mott	1943	1948		Independent
28	J.L. Sangster	1949	1950		Independent
29	F. H. Jackson	1951	1958		Independent
30	Beth Wood[d]	1959	1964		Independent
31	Stuart Gifford	1964	1968		Independent
32	Muni Evers	1968[e]	1982[e]		Independent
33	Tom Baker[f]	1982	1988		Independent
34	Betty Toporowski	1988	1996		Independent
35	Helen Sparkes	1996	2002		Independent
36	Wayne Wright	2002	2014		Independent
37	Jonathan X. Côte	2014	2022		Independent
38	Patrick Johnstone	2022	ongoing		Community First New West

1. Provincial party affiliation that was not registered as a British Columbian municipal political party.

1. Not to be confused with the English locomotive engineer Henry Hoy.
2. Not to be confused with American actor J. J. Johnston.
3. Conflicting reports suggest Wells Gray left office in 1930.
4. Not to be confused with American politician Beth Wood.
5. Conflicting reports suggest Muni Evers served as mayor between 1969 and 1984.
6. Not to be confused with English actor and writer Tom Baker.

Mayors who held higher offices

Federal government

Canadian senators

• Thomas Robert McInnes, 1881–1897

Canadian members of Parliament

• James Cunningham, 1874–1878
• Thomas Robert McInnes, 1878–1881
• William Mott, 1949–1953

Provincial government

Lieutenant governors of British Columbia

• Thomas Robert McInnes, 1897–1900

Premiers of British Columbia

• John Robson, 1889–1892

MLAs of British Columbia / MLCs of British Columbia / MCAs of British Columbia

• Henry Holbrook, 1871–1875
• John Robson, 1871–1875 and 1882–1892
• William James Armstrong, 1871–1878 and 1881–1884
• Robert Dickinson, 1875–1878
• John Cunningham Brown, 1890–1894 and 1900–1901
• Arthur (Wells) Gray, 1927–1944 (died in office)