Mayor & councillors
Port Phillip has 9 councillors. Each one represents a single ward: Albert Park, Alma, Balaclava, Elwood, Lakeside, Montague, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne or St Kilda. They were elected in October 2024 for the 2024–2028 term. Voters don't elect the Mayor directly: the councillors choose one of themselves for a one-year term, at a Special Council Meeting usually held in November. The next one is on Wednesday 11 November 2026.
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.
Who represents you
- Mayor
- Cr Alex Makin (Montague Ward)Elected Mayor by the councillors at the Special Council Meeting on 12 November 2025, for a one-year term.
- Deputy Mayor
- Cr Bryan Mears (Lakeside Ward)Re-elected Deputy Mayor at the same meeting, 12 November 2025.
- Councillors
- 9 — one per wardMatches the Victorian Electoral Commission's list of current councillors (checked Sep 2026).
- Next mayoral election
- Special Meeting of Council, Wednesday 11 November 2026From the council's 2026 meeting timetable (as archived in June 2026). This page will be updated after that meeting.
- Changes since the 2024 election
- NoneThe VEC lists no Port Phillip by-election or countback since October 2024. Its most recent Port Phillip entry is a January 2023 countback under the previous ward structure.
Your representatives
Alex Makin
Mayor / Councillor · Montague Ward
Bryan Mears
Deputy Mayor / Councillor · Lakeside Ward
Rod Hardy
Councillor · Albert Park Ward
Justin Halliday
Councillor · Alma Ward
Libby Buckingham
Councillor · Balaclava Ward
Louise Crawford
Councillor · Elwood Ward
Heather Cunsolo
Councillor · Port Melbourne Ward
Beti Jay
Councillor · South Melbourne Ward
Serge Thomann
Councillor · St Kilda Ward
Want to raise something? Contacting your ward councillor or the mayor is one of the most direct ways to be heard between elections.
Victorian council ballot papers and results don't show party affiliation, so we don't label councillors. We list who holds office, with the council email addresses on their official profiles (as archived between March and June 2026), and link to the election results. Invitations for the Mayor and councillors go to mayor@portphillip.vic.gov.au, the council says. If a seat falls vacant, Port Phillip's single-councillor wards fill it by a by-election, not a countback, as long as more than 6 months of the term remain. For the latest list, see the council's page or the VEC.
Sources — check it yourself
- City of Port Phillip — Your Councillors (read from an archived copy) · May 2026
- City of Port Phillip — Your Mayor (read from an archived copy) · Jun 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Port Phillip City Council (current councillors) · Sep 2026
- City of Port Phillip — Meet our Council's new Mayor Alex Makin (13 Nov 2025) (read from an archived copy) · Nov 2025
- City of Port Phillip — Timetable, Council meetings 2026 (read from an archived copy) · Jun 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — By-elections and countbacks timeline · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Port Phillip City Council election results · Nov 2024
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.