Lawrence Yule

Lawrence Yule JP is a New Zealand politician who has been Mayor of Hastings since 2001.

Mayor of Hastings

Yule has been mayor of Hastings for 15 years since 2001. In this role he presides over the Hastings District Council. When elected he was the youngest person to become mayor of Hastings.

In 2016, the Hastings district was hit by an outbreak of campylobacter in drinking water which affected thousands of people.

In the most recent election in 2016, Yule received more than 3,000 more votes than his closest rival. Yule announced that his sixth term, starting in 2016, would be his last as mayor.

National politics

Yule will be the National Party's candidate for the electorate of Tukituki in the 2017 general election; his candidacy was confirmed on 22 February 2017. The seat has been held by National MP Craig Foss since 2005, but he announced his retirement from politics in December 2016. Yule has yet to decide whether to resign as Hastings Mayor, but he intends to stay at least until 30 June 2017 to complete the inquiry into the 2016 water contamination.

Media reports had said it is likely that should Yule become National's Tukituki candidate, he would likely face the Labour Party's Anna Lorck, who Yule has hired as a public relations consultant during previous local election campaigns.

Other roles

Yule is the president of Local Government New Zealand. He is also a Justice of the peace.

Yule is married to his wife Kerryn. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ.