Government and power in New Zealand

Who leads New Zealand, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy.

Who leads New Zealand?

• Head of state: King Charles III (King)
• Representative of the head of state: Dame Cindy Kiro (Governor-General of New Zealand)
• Head of government: Christopher Luxon (Prime Minister of New Zealand)
• Foreign minister: Winston Peters (Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Racing, and Minister for Rail of New Zealand)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in New Zealand

Government

• Beehive.govt.nz (New Zealand Government)
  Ministerial releases, speeches and Cabinet announcements of the New Zealand Government.
• Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
  Cabinet papers, the Cabinet Manual and publications of the department supporting the Prime Minister.

Parliament

• New Zealand Parliament
  Hansard debates, bills, select committee reports and information on members of the House of Representatives.

Elections

• Electoral Commission
  General election and by-election results, enrolment statistics and party donation returns.

Courts

• Courts of New Zealand (Supreme Court)
  Judgments and information for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.

Public audit

• Office of the Auditor-General
  Audit reports and inquiries into central and local government entities, reported to Parliament.

Ombudsman

• Ombudsman New Zealand
  Investigation reports, case notes and official-information complaint opinions.

Public contracts

• Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS)
  Government tender notices and awarded contract notices.

Laws and the official gazette

• New Zealand Legislation
  The official text of New Zealand Acts, Bills and secondary legislation, published by the Parliamentary Counsel Office.
• New Zealand Gazette
  Official government notices, appointments and regulations published in the official newspaper.

Government below the national level

• Regional councils (11): Councillors elected for three years; the chair is elected by councillors
• Territorial authorities (67: city, district and unitary councils, including Auckland Council): Mayor directly elected; councillors elected by ward or at large, by first-past-the-post or single transferable vote
• Community boards (about 110) and Auckland's 21 local boards: Elected members (plus some appointed councillors on community boards)

How local power works in New Zealand

Places in New Zealand

• All 16 regions
• The 9 largest cities
• Official statistics for New Zealand

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Central government spending (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 808094019f50…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Tax revenue (GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08c94b750f31…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Births registered (SP.REG.BRTH.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 f8d443034ba7…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.