Southgate confirms she won’t go for third term as mayor

Saturday, 11 January 2025

Paula Southgate will not seek a third term as Hamilton mayor at this year’s local government elections.

Her decision was made some years ago, although it had been under wraps.

The announcement on Saturday is a public big step for the long-term politician.

At the end of an interview on Thursday, Southgate visibly teared up after recalling the help her daughters had given her during her quarter century-long involvement with the regional and city councils.

“It’s a bittersweet moment,” she said of her announcement.

“I’ve put my heart and soul into this job.”

She lost her first go at the mayoral race, just, to Andrew King in 2016 before beating him in 2019, and then defeating her former deputy Geoff Taylor in a fairly close two horse race in 2022.

Her time as mayor has included facing the major challenges of COVID-19 and economic recession.

She promised she would remain strongly focused on her role up until the election.

“I’m in this job right up to the very last day, 100%.”

Husband Greg Forsyth - who Southgate insisted would have supported her if she’d decided to run again - said: “I know probably better than anyone how hard she works and the hours that she does.

“So I guess, in a sense, I’m looking forward to getting my wife back.”

In a pre-Christmas interview in December, the impression was gained that the 61-year-old Southgate was in two minds about contesting the mayoralty again.

But Southgate said in this week’s interview she’d actually made the decision not to stand again some time ago.

On why she hadn’t simply said that before Christmas, she said: “Timing I think is critical in these things to be honest.”

Further clarification on Friday revealed she knew before standing in 2022 this would be her last term and she’d promised close friends and family that.

“What I’ve always said when people have asked me is…that I won’t be talking about it till this year,“ she told the Waikato Times on Friday.

She also said her announcement was quite early when it came to politicians saying whether they’d run again or not.

“I’ve done that on purpose to make space for younger emerging leaders to potentially come to the table and [to] let the community know I’m not running so that they can reach out to their groups and see who’s out there.”

But she wouldn’t be encouraging or shoulder-tapping anyone to try to take her place.

“I won’t be getting involved in the elections whatsoever. That’s for the community to decide.”

Councillors Tim Macindoe and Taylor have both indicated they’re considering a tilt at the mayoralty this year.

Asked whether she thought either might make a good mayor, Southgate said it wasn’t appropriate for her to comment.

“If I’m out of the game…then I’m out of the game. It’s up to other people to stand up to promote themselves if they feel they’ve got something to offer.”

Southgate said she was still exploring her options for future work outside local government, although she may do some advisory work in that area. She firmly ruled out seeking a seat in Parliament. “I have no aspirations for national politics.”

But she felt it was important for her to keep contributing her skills after she leaves the council so as to still make a positive difference for the community.

Southgate said she was particularly looking forward to spending much more time with her family and friends: “They’ve paid the price of 24 years in politics, they’ve sometimes had to play second fiddle to me and what I need to do, and my availability.”

On what she would and wouldn’t miss about being mayor, Southgate said a good part of the job was the great Hamiltonians she’d met but she would be glad not to do “the unrelenting long hours” of up to 15 hours a day anymore.

Asked whether she’d be happy to be rid of dealing with the political tensions of local government, she felt councillors had generally worked together well without “mass disruptions”, although there was always some argy bargy.

“That’s just the way it is - if you don’t like that you can’t be in politics because politics is around a competition over ideas quite often.”

On the importance of her staying focused despite not running again, Southgate said Hamilton faced massive issues this year, including the city’s reaction to Government water reforms, and amending the long term plan to account for water changes and less transport funding.

The need to be “finishing what’s on the table” underlined the importance of her staying on task “right until the very end”.

When it came the challenge of making sure Hamilton could remain liveable while accommodating strong growth pressures, Southgate said it was something she continued to give a lot of thought to.

“I’ve always wanted to grow a good city, not just a bigger city.”