Celebs in chains

London and New York each have one. So do Christchurch and Wanganui. Invercargill's had one for years.

And by the end of next year the newly formed Super City of Auckland could boast one too: a celeb in charge.

Names tossed around for the city's first Supermayor seem to have been drawn from the social pages - TV soap star-turned-lawyer Blair Strang, former warrior princess Lucy Lawless, broadcasters Paul Holmes and Paul Henry have all come up. Even Marc Ellis, rugby star-turned-television presenter, pulled 10 per cent of the votes in an nzherald.co.nz poll.

But would a celebrity be the "inspirational leader, inclusive in approach and decisive in action" that the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance envisaged? Someone who can "articulate and deliver on a shared vision ... speak for the region, and deliver regional priorities decisively"?

That's a bit optimistic, says Dr Andrew Cardow, a senior lecturer at Massey University who has been researching the role of mayors.

He says it's more likely Aucklanders will vote for someone "egotistical and megalomaniac".

Cardow says he expects celebrities, or at least politicians who are also household names, to wear the mayoral chains for the first few terms.

"I can't see that changing for two or three cycles before people realise this mayor of Auckland is actually a really important position, and a broadcaster or has-been politician is not the person for it," he says.

"People will look at the celebrity and think because he's a good guy, or because I know him, and because I like his take on politics, he'll be a good mayor for the city. And I'm a little uncomfortable with that."

And under the new structure the voters' decision is even more important because, unlike existing city leaders, the Supermayor will have real executive powers, like appointing a deputy mayor and committee heads, proposing a $25 billion budget and leading a staffed mayoral office.

University of Auckland local government expert Graham Bush is horrified at the prospect of a celebrity wielding that power.

"It would be an absolute disaster," he says. "Look at all the executive power they've got.

"My fear is that too many voters will have their heads turned by the celebrity status of the candidates and not think about what we're putting this person here to do."

He's also worried a crowded mayoral race will mean no one candidate winning majority support - leading to a mayor governing with, say, 20 per cent support.

The celebrity-turned-politician is certainly not new - movie actor Ronald Reagan went from screen star to California governor and then to the Oval Office. Following in his footsteps is action flick beefcake Arnold Schwarzenegger, now governor of California.

In London, name recognition helped former magazine editor, MP and TV regular Boris Johnson take the mayoralty last year. Johnson, over the years, has been forced to issue apology after apology, after variously insulting the Liverpool victims of the Hillsborough football stadium disaster, the residents of Portsmouth and the "cannibals" of Papua New Guinea.

He mostly defied his gaffe-prone reputation during his election campaign - until he told a group of homeless people that he lived in a big house "worth shedloads of money".

Here, Invercargill's Tim Shadbolt, Christchurch's Bob Parker and Wanganui's Michael Laws were all household names before becoming mayors.

And Shadbolt had a rough start adjusting to public life as mayor of Waitemata City. The mayoral chains were famously lost from his car in 1985, then reappeared in a Ponsonby letterbox. They disappeared again the following year, never to be found. The mayoral robes were next to go: "First it was my chain, then a set of keys off my desk, and now this," he told the New Zealand Herald.

There were other sartorial woes - Shadbolt took office wearing a $3 charity shop suit that promptly fell apart. A replacement met its end when a police dog at a gala misunderstood instructions and went for his trousers.

Both Laws and Parker had a background in broadcasting - although Laws was also an MP - and Cardow says that's a good headstart for a candidate. But some radio and television personalities divide as much as they unify: "Broadcasters are polemic, they wear their attitudes on their sleeves," he says.

"The sort of people who succeed in this sort of new environment will be those who are able to harness power, harness a groundswell of support, someone who is identified as a leader."

And he says those people have traditionally come from politics.

If the well-organised Labour Party - which hasn't decided whether to stand a candidate - swings in behind someone, that person might have a better chance of taking on right-wing front-runner John Banks, Cardow says.

But although politicians can rope in the machinery and constituencies of party politics, popular celebrities can often call on a much bigger constituency. Paul Holmes, when he hosted breakfast radio and fronted his own current affairs show, pulled in up to 300,000 listeners in the morning and more than 600,000 viewers at night.

In the same primetime evening timeslot across on Shortland Street, Blair Strang's character Rangi was followed by more than 500,000 viewers. And Xena Warrior Princess was viewed by millions - though most of those were in North America and won't be voting.
The only confirmed Supermayor candidate so far, Auckland Mayor John Banks, was already a long-serving MP and a Cabinet minister before hosting a talkback show on Radio Pacific. But he doesn't credit his time on air for helping his mayoral chances."The only thing my broadcasting career has brought to the table is, arguably, an ability to articulate the dream and sell the vision," Banks says.

He agrees the first Supermayor will have a high public profile, because he believes an unknown couldn't have the credentials for the job.

"If you don't have a high level of success in the community, in business or in public office, then your chances of being elected, I would have thought, are not great.

"The first mayor of greater Auckland will be a man or a woman who stands apart and stands tall in terms of achievement."

Will they need a giant ego? "You have to be extraordinarily confident in what you stand for and what you don't stand for," Banks says.

Radio host Willie Jackson, who stood for the Manukau mayoralty in 2007, says a public profile is a bonus - but only if you're seen as being "down the middle". People with polarising opinions struggle to get broad support.

"I always knew that was going to be the problem when I stood," he says. "I'm probably one of those people because I've always been an advocate for Maori."

Another talkback host, Herald on Sunday columnist Kerre Woodham, says it's naive to think broadcasters can waltz straight into the mayoralty.

"You have to do your apprenticeship before going into politics," she says. "I think we need someone who takes it seriously, which is boring, but that's what we need."

But Paul Henry - who was approached to run but has now ruled himself out of the first Supermayor race - believes voters might chose a familiar face over an unfamiliar name, even if they don't like the person.

"If you were looking at a field of names and two of them jumped out, you wouldn't have to like those people to vote for them over those you didn't know."

He says broadcasters are good communicators, can argue a point in an engaging way and, importantly, have already learned to live under public scrutiny.

"We put ourselves on the line, we've hung our laundry out to dry. People who haven't done that don't know what it's like to live under that constant, unvarying gaze."

Henry ran for parliament in 1999, standing for National in Wairarapa and losing to Carterton's Georgina Beyer who was, herself, a celebrity mayor of sorts.

He says the experience "satisfied quite a lot of my drive to get involved in politics".

Invercargill Mayor Shadbolt isn't stepping up either - "one thing I've learned down here in the south is you've got to be loyal" - but says there's no reason why a celebrity couldn't.

"Those who have a background in theatre or entertainment often make good mayors because they're good communicators, that's what their job is. I know they're looked down on by administrative-type mayors as being shallow, but I think in the public there's more acceptance."

Whoever steps up, Shadbolt is predicting interesting times ahead.

"I think it could be a good thing, this Super City. But it could also be a super nightmare."

CELEBRITIES WHO TURNED TO POLITICS

Clint Eastwood: The director and movie tough-guy was mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, from 1986 to 1988. He had no ambition to go on to higher office, saying: "This is one politician who doesn't have ambitions to leave Carmel."

Boris Johnson: Magazine editor, author and TV host was a Conservative MP before winning the London mayoralty last year. He said: "I think if I made a huge effort always to have a snappy, inspiring soundbite on my lips, the sheer mental strain of that would be such that I would explode."

Jesse Ventura: Real name James George Janos, professional wrestler and talkshow host became Minnesota governor in 1999. Supporters wore t-shirts with the slogan: "My governor can beat up your governor."

Arnold Schwarzenegger: The body-builder-turned-Hollywood star was elected governor of California in 2003, and lampooned for his "I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Michael Bloomberg: Founder of Bloomberg, the financial information, news and media company, became mayor of New York in 2001. He spent US$68 million on his campaign, according to the New York Times.

Ronald Reagan: From Screen Actors' Guild head to US President in three decades. Star of more than 50 films, Reagan was governor of California.

MAYORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Bob Parker: The radio announcer and This Is Your Life host served a long apprenticeship in politics. Parker was first elected as a community board member in Banks Peninsula, served two terms as the district's mayor, became a Christchurch City Councillor when the two bodies amalgamated in 2006, and won the mayoralty in 2007. "It's been a long journey from Heathcote Valley to City Hall and it's a feeling of great humility," he said.

Tim Shadbolt: "I don't care where, as long as I'm mayor," seemed an unlikely way for the former Waitemata mayor to win hearts in Invercargill in 1993. But the author and activist won the mayoralty, lost it again in 1995, won it back in 1998, and is now wearing the chains of office for a fifth term.

Michael Laws: A two-term National MP for Hawke's Bay, since leaving parliament he's been an author, broadcaster and columnist, appeared in reality television shows Celebrity Treasure Island and Dancing With The Stars, and was elected as Mayor of his hometown Wanganui in 2004. He said: "I don't give a rat's proverbial whether people don't like me, or they criticise me, or they say there is something wrong with my personality or anything like that."