Councillors may be elected but who wields the real power?

PremiumOpinionOpinion byJonathan AylingColumnist·NZ Herald·29 Jul, 2026 05:00 PM5 mins to readJonathan Ayling is a strategy consultant and professional director. ‌A rethink of local government might well be needed, but structural change should be accompanied by governance reform, writes Jonathan Ayling. Photo / NZMEIn 2024, while at dinner with a senior Cabinet minister, I was told that “of all the areas of reform we want to pursue, local government is low on our list of priorities”.

Yet the Government has since executed a substantial reform programme, and it is heartening to see