The mayor was directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system.
It existed until the 1989 local government reforms, when "Papakura City" was subsumed by "Papakura District".
[1] Papakura District was abolished on 31 October 2010, when the area became part of the Auckland Region, governed by the Auckland Council.
The 2007 mayoralty (and the last one before the advent of the Super City) was contested by Calum Penrose, the incumbent John Robertson, and Brent Catchpole.
[2] The following persons served as mayor of Papakura: