stand. He likewise stood for the Wellington City Council, Wellington Harbour Board and Wellington Hospital Board. He polled far better than expected for the mayoralty, but was defeated by Robert Macalister of the Citizens' Association. He was however elected to the City Council, Harbour Board and Hospital Board. In 1953 he stood again for all four offices but was again defeated by Macalister for the mayoralty. His popularity had grown significantly and was not only re-elected to the three local bodies, but topped the poll for all three, gaining more votes than any other candidate the first time this had been achieved in Wellington history. In 1956 Kitts was elected mayor on his third attempt, exploiting a split vote on the centre-right with Macalister running as an independent after losing the Citizens' Association nomination to Ernest Toop. He became Wellington's first Labour mayor in 46 years. He would remain Wellington's mayor for the next 18 years. In 1962 he recorded the highest ever number of votes in a mayoral election in Wellington. In 1969 he surpassed Thomas Hislop to become Wellington's longest serving mayor. He was unexpectedly defeated by a narrow margin in 1974 by Michael Fowler. The result was so close that several re-counts were required before the final result was known, ending Kitts' record tenure as mayor, though he was still re-elected as a member of the Harbour Board. As mayor Kitts travelled overseas as an ambassador for the city and made a point of visiting every city named Wellington in the world. In 1971 he visited Antarctica. Like Norman Kirk, also from Waimate, he was "a big man, using his imposing six foot two inch, 17 stone frame to overshadow his opponents." He also served on the Wellington Fire Board from 1954, and the Wellington Hospital Board from 1950 to 1956, and the Wellington Harbour Board from 1950 until his death in 1979. He was also the chairman of the Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board, director of the New Zealand Municipalities Co-operative Insurance Company and patron of the City of Wellington Highland Pipe Band. Member of Parliament Kitts stood unsuccessfully for Labour in two elections, in for , and in for . He was also speculated as a potential successor to Peter Fraser in the 1951 Brooklyn by-election but declined to stand. He was finally elected as the Member of Parliament for from to replace