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Mayor & councillors

Mayor & councillors

Cessnock City Council has 13 councillors: a Mayor elected directly by voters, plus three councillors for each of four wards — A, B, C and D. Below is who currently holds office, with links to their official profiles and the September 2024 election results. Two seats have changed hands since 2024 through countbacks: James Hawkins (Ward A) replaced Jay Suvaal, and Jack Franklin (Ward C) replaced Mark Mason.

New to these terms? Read them in plain English
How the mayor is chosen
Either elected directly by voters, or chosen by the councillors.
Ward
A subdivision of a council area that elects its own councillors.
Local Government Area (LGA)
The official area a council governs.
NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC)
Runs council elections and publishes the official results.
See the full explainer, with formulas →
Mayor
Daniel Watton (Cessnock Independents)Popularly elected Mayor (directly by voters); declared elected 1 October 2024.
Deputy Mayor
Cr Tracey Harrington (Cessnock Independents)Ward A; elected Deputy Mayor by councillors on 17 September 2025 for a 12-month term.
Councillors
13 total — directly-elected Mayor + 12 ward councillors (3 per ward)
Wards
A, B, C and D (3 councillors each)

Your representatives

Want to raise something? Contacting your ward councillor or the mayor is one of the most direct ways to be heard between elections.

We list who's in office and link to their official profiles and the election results; we don't characterise anyone's politics. Party labels are those each councillor was elected under at the September 2024 election (NSW Electoral Commission); 'Cessnock Independents' is the registered group name used on the ballot. A council's makeup can change between elections through casual vacancies — here, two seats were filled by NSWEC countbacks of the 2024 ballots (Ward A, declared 17 July 2025; Ward C, declared 1 May 2026). The council's official page has the most current list.

Sources — check it yourself

Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.