She may be Whanganui's deputy-mayor but Jenny Duncan says that doesn't mean she will not be expressing her own opinion around the Whanganui District Council table.
Ms Duncan was named as Hamish McDouall's second-in-command when the new council was sworn in this week.
The second term councillor said she was aware that her new role was one of supporting the city's leader mayor.
"We haven't discussed every detail about my role but we've been able to observe each other during the last three years. I think we've got the measure of each other.
"He knows he can trust me but he also knows that I've got my own opinion and I have the community at heart. That's where I'll always come from; what's best for Whanganui."