Ups and downs for Browns

The Browns: Clockwise from lower left, Olivia, Samantha and her fiance Tim Colgan, Len Brown, Shan Inglis and Victoria. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Len Brown spent Christmas revelling in becoming a granddad for the first time.

Brown, now one of the country's most powerful men, has had a tough year of juggling 17-hour work days, battling John Banks in the run-up to the election and the news that his wife Shan Inglis had been diagnosed with throat cancer.

Now, with Shan cleared of cancer, Brown has temporarily hung up his mayoral chain and is ready to enjoy a break from the office and Auckland.

"This is the time to chill out, get around the barbie - like everyone,

just do Kiwi stuff, get to the beach."

Centre of attention will be his first grandson, 5-month-old Luca, the son of the Brown's eldest daughter Samantha, 22, and her fiance Tim Colgan. Samantha's sisters Victoria, 11, and Olivia, 14, are equally delighted with their new nephew.

"We're very, very proud grandparents and so the first family Christmas this year with the next generation - it's pretty exciting," says Brown.

Christmas Day was to be a family affair - lunch and afternoon tea with the extended family.

The day will cap off a tough year for Brown. The low point was the news that Shan had throat cancer, the high point was "the green light on that week out from the election" that she was in the clear.

On the political front, being elected the new supermayor was the best memory. "I was amazingly humbled by that experience. You can't explain the sentiment living in the midst of that."

But there were lows too. A credit scandal threatened to sink his campaign and adjusting to intense media and public scrutiny was tough.

"Your life's a fishbowl and it takes a while to adjust."