Newly elected Auckland Council member Denise Krum is gearing up for a hefty workload after taking calls from Maungakiekie-Tamaki residents expecting prompt action on local issues.

Len Brown is not the man Aucklanders thought he was when they elected him their mayor for a second term just last Saturday.

Everybody has distractions, writes Claire Trevett. In fact, when it comes to time, family and raising children is a far more time-consuming distraction than an affair.

Prime Minister John Key has refused to be drawn into the sex scandal surrounding Auckland Mayor Len Brown, saying: "Len's got a job to do."

John Banks says he will continue to fight allegations of filing a false election return, but has resigned his ministerial portfolios in the meantime.

Public opinion has softened against Len Brown after news broke of his affair, but the majority of those responding to a online poll are still calling for him to quit.

ACT Leader John Banks has resigned from his ministerial posts effective immediately in the wake of the decision to send him to trial over his donations.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown's deputy says he has her support in the wake of revelations about his long-running extra-marital affair.

Public opinion has swung against Len Brown after news of his affair - with a majority of people responding to a Herald poll calling for him to resign.

It was business as usual at the Brown family home this morning, after Len Brown said he'd stay on as Auckland's mayor following his admission of an affair.

Last week's admission by the Government that in the year to June 2012, Aucklanders subsidised the rest of the country by almost $1000 a head, writes Brian Rudman.

The Reserve Bank has rejected claims that its curbs on low-deposit mortgage lending will have the perverse effect of reducing the amount of new housing.

'Well done to the people of Hamilton, who have shown more sense than many of their own city councillors," said the dentistry specialist. It's an apt commentary.

John Banks signed his election return without fully reading it, and was kept at arm's length from campaign finances, a court has heard.

The woman alleged to have had an affair with Auckland mayor Len Brown is Bevan Chuang.

A commission of inquiry may be required to sort out the country's "dire" voter turnout for local body elections, a Dunedin political scientist says.

Kim Dotcom has told a court he was offended when told John Banks wanted his $50,000 mayoral campaign donation to be anonymous.

New rules for how people in the country's biggest cities deal with their trash are coming in to force on Nov 1. Do you know what they are?

Auckland Council's local boards are about to get an injection of young blood, with the success of three candidates aged under 30 in Saturday's elections.

Seventy per cent of Hamilton ratepayers voted to return fluoride to the city's water supply after the council took it out in July.

Auckland mayoral wannabes Maurice Williamson and Cameron Brewer must have gone through a few "what if" moments following the weekend's results, writes Brian Rudman.