Banks shrinks from publicity about stretching statistic

John Banks. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Short man's syndrome or just stretching the truth?

Supermayor hopeful John Banks had a prickly reaction to being questioned about his height this week - before admitting he was an inch shorter than he'd claimed.

Banks had said he was 5 foot 9 inches, or 175cm - making him 5cm taller than his rival for the mayoralty, Len Brown.

The claim was made when Banks was asked by the Herald on Sunday for background detail for a feature story, and confirmed when checked a second time.

But when asked if his height could be checked again, this time with a measuring tape, Banks said he was too busy to discuss it. He tried to duck the question three times, saying he wanted only to discuss "matters of substance" and wasn't the "slightest bit interested in indulging that".

Banks denied he had anything to hide, saying: "I just think it's rubbish."

He finally agreed to an independent check of his height, and sent a certificate signed by his doctor. It revealed he was 173cm, or 5 foot 8 inches.

And the doctor's opinion was that he would have been 5 foot 9 inches as a younger man.

Banks said through his spokesman that questions around height could be a sensitive issue for "a man of 63".

The downsizing comes six years after Banks was outed for trimming 12 years from his age while campaigning for the Auckland city mayoralty.

Banks claimed in a speech to be 45, when his real age was 57. Asked afterwards, he said "If people ask me, I'm 45 - that's how I feel."

Victoria University psychology senior lecturer Marc Wilson said height was often seen as a mark of leadership: "We literally and figuratively look up to taller people."

Studies have shown taller people are more likely to hold important jobs, with American presidents, for instance, generally several inches taller than average - Barack Obama stands at 185cm.

heather.mccracken@hos.co.nz