From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha power in the landa power in the landold-fashionedIMPORTANT someone who has a lot of power and influence in a country → power
Examples from the Corpus
a power in the land• Even so, it had to grow, to strengthen itself and impose itself as a power in the land.• These courts had existed for centuries already, ever since the medieval Templars had been a power in the land. 