Race for super-mayoralty takes comic twist

Gilmour is the third confirmed contender for the Auckland supermayoralty. Photo / Supplied

Comedian Ewen Gilmour is the third confirmed contender for the Auckland supermayoralty.

The former Waitakere City councillor said he would be entering the race with the campaign slogan: "Ewen Gilmour for Supermayor? F*** yeah!"

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said Gilmour, who served on his council between 2003 and 2006, would make an excellent candidate: "He is an absolute sheer delight and he cares about the issues of young people and he left here very highly rated."

But Harvey stopped short of a full endorsement: "I'll have to be sure that Ewen is serious first. After all, he is a comedian."

Gilmour will officially launch his campaign during a performance at Rotary House in Orewa, north of Auckland, on April 24.

He said he booked the venue because it was politically auspicious: "Brash and Muldoon have always started there - I thought I would as well."

Polls have shown Manukau Mayor Len Brown ahead of his Auckland counterpart John Banks in the race to be Auckland's first super-mayor.

Banks claimed he'd never heard of Gilmour and, told he was a comedian with TV experience, said: "Well, there's a lot of people who've been on television, but he certainly will add some fun to what could be a fairly pedestrian campaign."

Brown initially laughed when told Gilmour was running.

"He's got a good sense of humour, he's a funny fellow - best of luck to him."

Gilmour said he was considering unorthodox campaigning techniques, including changing his name to "Ewen AAAGilmour" if ballot forms were alphabetised.