Nicholas Reece


Nicholas Reece is an Australian politician and policy activist, currently serving as the 105th Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. He is a senior executive at the University of Melbourne and a principal fellow at the Melbourne School of Government. He is the chair of the board of directors at the Movember Foundation, and a commentator at Sky News Australia.
He previously held a number of roles in politics, including as secretary and campaign director of the Australian Labor Party and as the director of strategy to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Reece's early career included time working as a lawyer at Maurice Blackburn and as a journalist at The Australian Financial Review.

Political career

Labor Party

Until 2012, Reece held a number of roles as a ministerial staffer and Australian Labor Party executive, including:
In 2016, Reece was elected as a councillor to the Melbourne City Council as a member of Team Doyle. Reece joined Team Sally Capp for the 2020 election, and he was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor.
On 2 July 2024, following the resignation of Sally Capp, Reece was sworn in as 105th Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. In the 2024 Melbourne City Council election, Reece retained his position as Lord Mayor, winning 23.36% of primary votes cast and winning 61.49% of the two-candidate-preferred vote.

Media career

Reece is a political commentator on Sky News and was the host of Politics HQ between 2017 and 2019. Reece also writes a regular column for The Age.
In 2015, Reece appeared in the award-winning documentary The Killing Season, which recounted the leadership struggles between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard between 2010 and 2013.

Personal life

Reece is Jewish, he was born in London in 1974.
Reece is a supporter of the Carlton Football Club, resides in Carlton, is married to Felicity and has three daughters. His wife is Greek.
In 2004, he was one of the original 'mo-bros' who got together to raise funds for the Movember Foundation. Since then, Movember has raised almost $1 billion for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men's mental health. Reece has served as a Non-Executive Director on the Movember Foundation Board of Directors since the establishment of the Board in 2007.
Reece was a founding director for the street newspaper The Big Issue, a role he served in for 10 years.