# Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg

The Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg (Russian: Законода́тельное собра́ние Санкт-Петербу́рга, ЗакС) is the regional parliament of Saint Petersburg, a federal subject (federal city) of Russia. It was established in 1994, succeeding the Leningrad Council of People's Deputies (Lensovet).
It is a permanent body, and the supreme and only governing body in St Petersburg. It is located in the Mariinsky Palace. Its powers and duties are defined in the Charter of Saint Petersburg.

## History
### Russian Empire

Saint Petersburg's city duma was established in 1786 as part of Catherine II's reforms on local government.
In 1798, Paul I abolished the city duma and replaced it with the Ratusha (Rathaus) until the city duma was restored in 1802. The city duma was again abolished in 1918 with its functions devolved to the Petrograd Soviet.

### Russian Federation

Initially it was the speaker of the Assembly who served as member of the Federation Council of Russia representing the legislative power body of this federal subject. However, in 2000 the federal legislation changed and the duties were delegated to a separate person to be elected by the regional legislature (not necessarily among its members). From June 13, 2001 until May 18, 2011, Sergey Mironov occupied this position.
According to federal legislation from 2005, the governor of Saint Petersburg (as well as heads of other federal subjects of Russia) was proposed by the President of Russia and approved by the regional legislature. On December 20, 2006, incumbent Valentina Matviyenko was approved as governor. In 2012, following the passage of a new federal law, which restored direct elections of the heads of federal subjects, the city charter was again amended.

### Convocations

The first three convocations were formed by a single-member district plurality voting system with at least 20% participation required (except for the 1994 elections with their changing participation threshold), two-round for the first and second convocations and single-round for the third one. On March 11, 2007, the fourth elections were held using a party-list proportional representation system with a 7-percent election threshold and no required threshold of participation for the first time according to the new city law accepted by the third convocation of the assembly in 2006 and new federal legislation.
* 1st convocation: March 20–21/October 30/November 20, 1994
* 2nd convocation: December 6/December 20, 1998
* 3rd convocation: December 8, 2002
* 4th convocation: March 11, 2007
* 5th convocation: December 4, 2011
* 6th convocation: September 18, 2016
* 7th convocation: September 2021 – September 2026

## Composition

The Assembly is a permanent body, and the supreme and only governing body in Saint Petersburg. It consists of fifty seats and is elected for a five-year term. Half of this number run in single-mandate constituencies, while the other half are in a single electoral district, with winners elected in proportion to the number of votes cast. The candidates are nominated by electoral associations.

### Structure and governor

The highest executive body of state power in Saint Petersburg is the government of Saint Petersburg, headed by the Governor of Saint Petersburg, who is the region's highest-ranking official. The Governor is elected for five years by Russian citizens who live in Saint Petersburg permanently.
As of 2025, the incumbent governor is Alexander Beglov, who was re-elected for a second term of office in 2024.

## Past compositions
### 2011

| Party | % | Seats |
| United Russia | 36.96 | 20 |
| A Just Russia | 23.08 | 12 |
| Communist Party | 13.69 | 7 |
| Yabloko | 12.50 | 6 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 10.17 | 5 |
| Patriots of Russia | 1.19 | 0 |
| Union of Right Forces | 0.82 | 0 |

### 2016

| Party | Party | % | Seats |
| | United Russia | 41.25 | 36 |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | 12.40 | 3 |
| | Communist Party | 11.26 | 3 |
| | Party of Growth | 10.72 | 3 |
| | Yabloko | 9.77 | 2 |
| | A Just Russia | 9.10 | 3 |
| | People's Freedom Party | 2.11 | 0 |
| | Labor Front | 0.78 | 0 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 32.41 | |

### 2021

| Party | Party | % | Seats |
| | United Russia | 33.29 | 30 |
| | Communist Party | 17.47 | 7 |
| | A Just Russia — For Truth | 12.71 | 5 |
| | New People | 10.03 | 3 |
| | Yabloko | 9.15 | 2 |
| | Liberal Democratic Party | 7.90 | 3 |
| | Party of Growth | 4.13 | 0 |
| | Party for Freedom and Justice | 2.43 | 0 |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 35.52 | |

#### Controversy

While non-systemic opposition was largely eliminated from the elections, those candidates (mostly of systemic opposition) who were allowed to participate were targeted by various semi-legal intimidation or confusion techniques. The one includes "doppelganger candidates", where a person of similar look and surname was put on the same ballot in order to confuse voters. A remarkable case of Boris Vishnevskiy, a candidate of the Yabloko party, who run in the №2 Saint Petersburg circuit with two nearly indistinguishable doppelgängers alongside was widely reported. Both have changed their legal names to "Boris Vishnevsky" shortly before the elections, and returned to their original names shortly after it was finished.

## Speakers

| | Name | Period | Notes |
| 1st convocation | Yury Kravtsov [ru] | January 5, 1995 – April 2, 1998, | Dismissed ahead of schedule |
| 1st convocation | Sergei Mironov | April 2, 1998 – 1999 | Acting |
| 2nd convocation | Viktor Novosyolov [ru] | 1999 | Acting, assassinated on October 20, 1999 |
| 2nd convocation | Sergei Tarasov [ru] | June 7, 2000 – January 15, 2003 | |
| 3rd convocation | Vadim Tyulpanov [ru] | January 15, 2003 – December 13, 2011 | |
| 4th convocation | Vadim Tyulpanov [ru] | January 15, 2003 – December 13, 2011 |
| 5th convocation | Vyacheslav Makarov | December 14, 2011 – September 28, 2016 | |
| 6th convocation | Vyacheslav Makarov | September 28, 2016 – September 29, 2021 | |
| 7th convocation | Aleksandr Belsky [ru] | September 29, 2021 – present | |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Including one independent candidate
* ↑ Including one independent candidate supported by United Russia
* ↑ Both English and Russian speaking media have reported the incident long before election even started.