1897 Wellington City mayoral election

← 1896 24 November 1897 1898 →
Turnout	1,935
Candidate John Rutherfurd Blair George Fisher Party Independent Independent Popular vote 1,359 576 Percentage 70.23 29.77
Mayor before election Francis Bell Elected mayor John Rutherfurd Blair

The 1897 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

In 1897 incumbent Mayor Francis Bell retired leading to the chairman of the Wellington Education Board John Rutherfurd Blair being elected to office as the new Mayor of Wellington, beating his sole opponent MP George Fisher (a former mayor).

The following table gives the election results:

• Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.

v t e Mayors of Wellington
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joe Dransfield Charles Borlase elected at large William Sefton Moorhouse William Hutchison Joe Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Sam Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence Jim Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester Andy Foster Tory Whanau
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1842 1874 1875 1876† 1877† 1878 1879‡ 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888† 1889† 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898† 1899 1901 1902† 1903† 1904 1905 1906† 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911† 1912 1913 1914 Biennial term 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† 1935 Triennial term 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022
Local elections	1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 by-elections
† Elected unopposed ‡ By-election