The mayor is directly elected using the first-past-the-post electoral system.

The current mayor is Rob Scott, who was elected in 2022.

[3] Southland District was established as part of the 1989 local government amalgamation.

[4] Frana Cardno joined the Southland District as a councillor in 1989, before being elected mayor in 1992.

[5] She retired from that role in October 2013 prior to that year's local elections,[5] and was New Zealand's longest-serving female mayor ever.