Auckland Council

Auckland Council (Māori: Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, which established the council.[1] The governing body consists of a mayor and 20 councillors, elected from 13 wards. There are also 149 members of 21 local boards who make decisions on matters local to their communities.[2][3] It is the largest council in Oceania,[4] with a $3 billion annual budget, $29 billion of ratepayer equity,[5] and 9,870 full-time staff as of 30 June 2016.[6][7] The council began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the previous regional council and the region's seven city and district councils into one "super council" or "super city".

Auckland Council Māori: Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau
Regional council
Wards of Auckland Council
Type
Type	Regional council of Auckland
Established	1 November 2010; 11 years ago
Leadership
Mayor	Phil Goff
CEO	Jim Stabback
Structure
Seats	21
Political groups	Independent (5)   Labour (4)   Communities and Residents (3)   City Vision (2)   Putting People First (2)   Manurewa-Papakura Action Team (2)   Taking the Shore Forward (1)   Team Franklin (1)   A Positive Voice for the Shore (1)
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large voting
Last election	2019
Next election	2022
Website
AucklandCouncil.govt.nz

The council was established by a number of Acts of Parliament, and an Auckland Transition Agency, also created by the central government. Both the means by which the council was established and its structure came under repeated criticism from a broad spectrum during the establishment period.

The initial Council elections in October 2010 returned a mostly centre-left council with Len Brown as mayor.[8] Brown was re-elected in October 2013, again with a largely supportive council.[9] The 2016 mayoral election was won by Labour MP Phil Goff, who had a landslide victory over his nearest rivals, Victoria Crone and future Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick.[10] Goff won re-election in the 2019 mayoral election.[11]