Mayor & councillors
Wangaratta has 7 wards, each with one councillor, elected in October 2024 for the 2024–2028 term. All 7 seats are filled. Voters don't elect the Mayor directly: the councillors choose one of themselves, for a one-year term.
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 Irene Grant (Warby Ward)Re-elected Mayor by the councillors at the council meeting of 25 November 2025, for a one-year term; the council says the position was contested. She was first elected Mayor for this council term in 2024. The council says she previously served as Mayor for three terms and as an Administrator of the council from 2013 to 2016.
- Deputy Mayor
- Cr Harvey Benton (Ovens Ward)Re-elected Deputy Mayor on 25 November 2025.
- Councillors
- 7 in office, no vacanciesAs listed by the council and by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), checked Sep 2026. Two wards, King River and Warby, were uncontested in 2024.
- Next mayoral election
- Expected around November 2026 (one-year term)The last one was at the council meeting of 25 November 2025. The council's 2026 meeting schedule lists a council meeting on 24 November 2026 but doesn't say when the mayoral election will be held (checked Sep 2026).Council meetings →
- Council meetings
- Monthly; some held in rural townshipsThe rest of the 2026 schedule: 27 October at Edi Upper Hall (6pm), 24 November and 15 December at the Council Chambers, 62–68 Ovens Street. Meetings are streamed on the council's YouTube channel, and questions can be submitted until 10am on the day.Meeting schedule →
- Allowances and interests
- Quarterly councillor payment reports and personal interest summariesPublished on the council's councillors page.Councillors page →
Your representatives
Irene Grant
Mayor / Councillor · Warby Ward
Harvey Benton
Deputy Mayor / Councillor · Ovens Ward
Tania Maxwell
Councillor · Appin Ward
Dave Fuller
Councillor · Bullawah Ward
Harry Bussell
Councillor · King River Ward
Ashlee Fitzpatrick
Councillor · Wareena Ward
Allison Winters
Councillor · Yarrunga 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 their council email addresses and official profiles, and link to the election results. In a single-councillor ward, a vacancy with more than 6 months of the term left is filled by a by-election, not a countback. For the latest list, see the council's page or the VEC.
Sources — check it yourself
- Rural City of Wangaratta — Councillors · Sep 2026
- Rural City of Wangaratta — Mayoral Election Result 2025 (26 Nov 2025) · Nov 2025
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Wangaratta Rural City Council (current councillors) · Sep 2026
- Rural City of Wangaratta — Council Meetings (2026 schedule) · Sep 2026
- Rural City of Wangaratta — Understanding Our Wards · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Wangaratta Rural 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.