Dame Frances Helen Wilde (née Kitching, born 11 November 1948) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected mayor of South Wairarapa in October 2025. Wilde was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 1981 as the Labour Party member of parliament in Wellington Central. She achieved legislative success promoting the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 and subsequently served as Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control and Minister of Tourism in the Fourth Labour Government. She resigned her seat after being elected mayor of Wellington in 1992, a position she held for a single term. Wilde returned to politics in 2004, winning a seat on the Greater Wellington Regional Council which she chaired from 2007 to 2015. She led an unsuccessful attempt to amalgamate the nine councils in the Wellington region.
Trustee
National Military Heritage Charitable Trust
Oct 2015
Director
Business In The Community (2013) Limited
Mar 2014 - Aug 2017
Trustee
Te Mana o Kupe Trust
Dec 2013 - Apr 2017
Trustee
The Wairarapa Arts Festival Trust
May 2012 - Dec 2015
Secretary
Cambridge Dyslexic Trust
Feb 2012
Trustee
Kapiti U.S. Marines Trust
Jan 2011 - Jan 2016
Trustee
New Zealand Festival Trust
Jun 2008 - Nov 2010
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