Alexandra based lawyer Tim Cadogan is now the region's Mayor after beating the incumbent with twice the amount of votes.

Mr Cadogan received 5,288 votes compared to Tony Lepper who got 2,637 votes.

Mr Lepper served 2 terms as Mayor of the region, and a total of 27-years in Central Otago local government.

Tim Cadogan has been practising Family, Criminal and Employment law for over a decade as well as doing legal aid work.

"I'm both humbled and staggered by the support I got but it puts a lot of responsibility on my shoulders in that I have a lot of people who have now put their faith in me to lead Central Otago into the future," he says.

From little things, big things grow 

Mr Cadogan landed in Alexandra as a solo parent in the early 1990s and had experienced a dose of hard times being on what was called back in those days, the Domestic Purposes Benefit.

He spent many years as a presenter on community radio before dusting off his law degree after graduating in 1990 at the University of Otago. He became a law clerk and was admitted in 2005.

Mr Cadogan says his message to the community during his Mayoral campaign appears to have struck the right chords with people.

And he intends to keep his word.

"I said I'd be available to talk with the community and that I'd be a leader of the community not just the Council. That struck a note and because I was known for my work as a radio presenter which meant I did involve myself a lot in the community. I also know what it is like to have gone through tough financial times, so I mean what I say," he says.

As a lawyer, Mr Cadogan is also the Central Otago and Queenstown Disputes Tribunal Referee.

"That resonated with people. I'm used to mediating. I'm used to bringing people together," he says.

What will happen to the legal practice now that he is Mayor?

At the moment Mr Cadogan is juggling about four telephones, a mayoral phone, a law phone, an office phone and the family phone.

He says there will obviously be a lot less time for lawyering with the new job.

"I've trimmed everything back so that I retain my Family Law practice in Alexandra and some youth advocate work. The job as Mayor is full time so the law will be a much smaller part of my day to day work," he says.

Tim Cadogan will be sworn in as Mayor of Central Otago on 26 October at the first District Council meeting of his 3-year term as the region's leader.