The last mayor of Harden Shire was Cr. John Horton, an unaligned politician.
Council
Composition and election method
Harden Shire Council was composed of seven councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. All councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor was elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The last democratic election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council was as follows:[5]
A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that Harden Shire merge with adjoining councils. The NSW Government considered two proposals. The first proposed a merger between the Harden, Boorowa and Young shires to form a new council with an area of 7,139 square kilometres (2,756 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 19,000.[7] The alternative, proposed by Harden Shire on 28 February 2016, was for an amalgamation of the Cootamundra, Gundagai and Harden shires.[8] Following an independent review, on 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced the dissolution of the Boorowa, Harden and Young shires and merged the areas to form the Hilltops Council with immediate effect.[4]