Wyndham City Council has elected Cr Preet Singh as mayor and Cr Jasmine Hill as deputy mayor, ending a prolonged leadership standoff that had left the fast-growing municipality without a clear political head after last week’s tied vote.
Cr Singh secured six votes at Monday night’s meeting, while Cr Hill also won the deputy mayoralty with six votes. Wyndham’s official website now lists Cr Singh as Mayor of Wyndham.
The result closes a tense chapter for the council, which had failed to break a 5-5 split just days earlier. The mayoral vote ended in a draw between Cr Singh and Cr Peter Maynard, even after an adjournment and repeat vote, laying bare deep divisions inside the chamber. It was announced by Wyndham City Council that a fresh meeting to elect a mayor for the remainder of the 2025-26 term would be held on Monday, 23 March.
The fresh vote became necessary after former mayor Cr Josh Gilligan was suspended from office following a misconduct finding by an independent arbiter. In a statement issued on 25 February, Wyndham City said the arbiter found Cr Gilligan had breached the Model Councillor Code of Conduct, ordered him to issue a written apology and imposed a one-month suspension effective that same day. The council said that under the Local Government Act 2020, the mayoralty became vacant once he was suspended from the office of a councillor, triggering the need for a new election within a month.
Cr Singh had already stepped into the role in an acting capacity after that suspension, but Monday’s vote now gives him the full authority of the office at a time when Wyndham’s internal politics have been under intense public scrutiny.
Wyndham City says Cr Singh was first elected to council in November 2024 and had been elected deputy mayor in November 2025 before now taking over as mayor.
Cr Hill’s election as deputy mayor also adds a familiar figure to Wyndham’s top leadership team. Her official councillor profile says she is serving a second term on council and has previously served as deputy mayor, giving the new leadership pairing a degree of experience as the council attempts to move beyond months of instability and factional tension.
For residents, the vote matters beyond council politics. Wyndham is one of Victoria’s fastest-growing municipalities, and after weeks of public uncertainty, the election of a mayor and deputy mayor restores a defined leadership structure at a time when expectations around governance, stability and delivery remain high.
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