St. Petersburg is governed by an elected Legislative Assembly (Zakonodatelnoe sobranie) of 400 members, which meets 3 or 4 times a year and and an Administration of Saint Petersburg (Administratsiya Sankt-Peterburga), formerly known as the Mayor’s office (Meriya). The Administration of Saint Petersburg is governed by elected Governor (Gubernator). The governer's name is Yakovlev Vladimir Anatolevich.

The Small Council of the City Assembly works throughout the year and consists of 36 members including the chairman, and many of the chairmen of the

The precise structure of governance and the allocation of responsibilities between the Mayor’s Office - or now the Governor’s Office - and the Legislative Assembly is not completely clear.

All Commissions of the Legislative Assembly (sobranie) are in the City Council Building (Mariinskiy Palace) on St. Isaac's Square unless otherwise noted.

“Smolnyy” refers to the governor’s office at Smolnyy Institute (Proletarskoy Diktatury pl., 1).