A group of Sydney mayors could be elected for just two months before facing the polls again. 

The Berejiklian government has pushed back council elections until early December due to an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. 

However, many mayors will soon be re-elected by their fellow councillors at the end of September, before all councillors are elected by constituents in December.

The discrepancy has arisen for councils that elected mayors for a two-year term in 2019, including Parramatta, Inner West Council and Canterbury-Bankstown, and several other large metropolitan and regional councils.

The interim mayors may have very little time to do anything, as a revised caretaker period kicks in on November 5.

However, councils whose mayors are popularly elected, including City of Sydney, Hornsby, and Fairfield, will not put them up for re-election until the delayed December elections.

The NSW government has been asked to move the mayoral ballots in line with the postponed local government elections. 

The state’s Office of Local Government said it would “issue more detailed guidance on this before September”.