Philadelphia City Council

Philadelphia City Council
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
President	Kenyatta Johnson, Democratic since January 2, 2024
Majority Leader	Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Democratic since January 1, 2024
Minority Leader	Kendra Brooks, WFP since January 1, 2024
Structure
Seats	17
Political groups	Democratic (14)   Working Families (2)   Republican (1)
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post (for single-member district seats) Limited voting with limited nominations (for citywide at-large seats)
Last election	November 7, 2023
Next election	November 2, 2027
Meeting place
Philadelphia City Hall
Website
City Council Website

The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughout the city.

The Council serves as a check against the Mayor of Philadelphia in a mayor-council system of government. Council can override mayoral vetoes with a two-thirds vote. Among other responsibilities, the Council approves the city budget proposed by the Mayor. Councilmembers are elected for four-year terms with no limits on the number of terms they may serve.

The head of the City Council is the Council President. The current Council President, Democrat Kenyatta Johnson, assumed office in January 2024. All proposed legislation is introduced by a councilmember and then the Council President refers proposed legislation to the appropriate committee.

Democrat Katherine Gilmore Richardson has headed the Democratic majority in the chamber as Majority Leader since January 2024. Working Families Party member Kendra Brooks is the Minority Leader, representing the Council's minority caucus since January 2024. The Working Families Party is the minority caucus with two seats, ahead of the Republican Party's one seat held by Brian J. O'Neill.