The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who succeeded after the retirement of Lianne Dalziel. The council currently consists of 16 councillors elected from sixteen wards, and is presided over by the mayor, who is elected at large. The number of elected members and ward boundaries changed prior during the 2016 election. History As a result of the 1989 local government reforms, on 1 November 1989 Christchurch City Council took over the functions of the former Christchurch City Council, Heathcote County Council, Riccarton Borough Council, Waimairi District Council, part of Paparua County Council, and the Christchurch Drainage Board. On 6 March 2006, Banks Peninsula District Council merged with Christchurch City Council. Councillor Yani Johanson campaigned since 2010 to live-stream council meetings for more transparency. Whilst the technology had been installed well before the 2013 local body election, it has only been used since the change in mayor. Elections The Council is elected every three years using the first-past-the-post voting system. The vote is conducted by postal ballot. The 2016 elections had a turnout of 38.3% down from 42.9% and 52.2% in 2013 and 2010 respectively. Prior to the 2004 local elections, there were 24 councillors in Christchurch. At that election, the number of councillors halved to 12. For electoral purposes, Christchurch was divided into six wards from 2004, and seven wards after the amalgamation with Banks Peninsula in 2006. The six metropolitan wards each elected two councillors, with the remaining councillor elected for the sparsely populated Banks Peninsula ward. The 2016 representation review by the Local Government Commission has resulted in 16 wards, with each ward electing one councillor, i.e. an increase in three councillors. Political groupings represented on the Council are the centre-right Independent Citizens and the centre-left The People's Choice (formerly Christchurch 2021). Party politics are less influential in elections to the Council than is the case for the House of Representatives, with 10 Councillors elected on tickets and 7 elected as independents in 2019, including the Mayor. Council members 2022–current The composition of the council for the 2022 term is: 2019–2022 The composition of the council for the 2019–2022 term was: 2016–2019 The election held via postal vote on 8 October 2016, was the first to use the