The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote electoral system.

The locality was part the Makara County Council, abolished on 31 August 1962.

[3] During Brown's term, Porirua achieved city status on 2 October 1965.

She held the mayoralty for 12 years (four terms) until her retirement in October 2010.

He had been endorsed by his predecessor plus former mayor John Burke,[9] and was first elected as a councillor in Porirua in 1998, when he was 19 years old.