the resignation of his predecessor, and had represented Hamilton West in Parliament from 1996 until his defeat in 2002. Hardaker campaigned for opening the books on the V8s, transparent government, city living and making the Waikato River accessible. Of the 33,000 votes cast Hardaker and Simcock received 13,626 and 12,670, respectively, a majority of 956 votes and representing about 41% for Hardaker. A year into her reign, an opinion poll by the Waikato Times showed an almost unchanged level of support, with 40% of the respondents stating they would vote for her again if an election were held tomorrow. She stood for re-election in the 2013 mayoral election. Her manifesto for her second term was managing finances, implementing the Waikato River Plan and investing in the city. The three-way battle between incumbent Hardaker, Ewan Wilson and David Macpherson narrowed when trailing Macpherson asked his supporters to shift their vote to Wilson which Hardaker called political game playing and claimed it made a mockery of the election process. She was re-elected with 15737 votes over rival Ewan Wilson with 12826 votes, a 2911 majority which was a three-fold majority increase from 2010 and the first Mayor in Hamilton to be re-elected since Margaret Evans in 1995. In March 2016 Hardaker announced that she would not be contesting the 2016 mayoral election and would be returning to her law career. Hardaker described her greatest challenge during her term as Mayor as opening the books on the financial status of the V8 Super Car Racing, a major event which was entered into by the previous Council. Her leadership and resolve during the process, which included establishing a City financial recovery plan moving the Council out of a 9-year run of operating deficits, received accolades from across the political spectrum. In 2010 City debt was $422 million and forecast to increase to $830 million. By 2016 the council was running operating surpluses and debt had reduced to $348 million. Hardaker listed other Mayoral legacies as the Central City Transformation Plan, Hamilton Gardens and Hamilton City River Plan which is a 30-year visionary document containing a mix of short and long-term projects along 16 km of the Waikato River that would transform the city's relationship with the river. During her term the Hamilton Gardens won "World Garden of the Year" at the International Garden Tourism Awards in Metz, France. Her performance as Mayor was graded