Breakfast king who went from cereals to city hall

The front page when Hubbard won.

Five years ago, the Herald on Sunday reported who won the Auckland mayoral race. Dick Hubbard reflects light-heartedly on his first front page.

Well, I am delighted that a front page photo of me being kissed by my wife as I became Mayor of Auckland rocketed the sales of the fledgling Herald on Sunday into the safety zone.

To think that it was this photo that might have set the paper on the way to its five-year anniversary.

The Herald on Sunday has, however, done better than my own political fortunes which made it only to the three-year anniversary.

My consolation is that my company Hubbard Foods has been around for 21 years now, so I am still well ahead.

And my little Clipboard newsletter, which goes in my cereal boxes, has a print run of approximately 800,000 copies.

As for the comparative depth of analysis, or a comparison of editorial styles of our two publications, I leave it for readers to decide. What our publications have in common is that both are read over the breakfast table.

The relationship between politician and paper is an interesting one. It is a symbiotic one. It is one that the average businessman or average citizen in the street would be hard pressed to understand until they had been there.

In my case I had to be a quick learner about this new relationship in my life as, for me, it was literally breakfast cereals on a Friday and city hall on a Monday. I would not go so far as to say the paper exactly held my hand but I did get some leeway (for the first week only I might add!).

Sunday papers are special and I think you bond more with a Sunday paper than your daily. It might be about the special nature of Sunday. It might be about the different nature of the stories. It might be about Rachel Glucina! It might be about one's mood.

However, one always looks forward to the relaxing nature of the Sunday morning read. In my case, during my mayoralty, this was sometimes tempered by having my own name incorporated into the headline.

Congratulations Herald on Sunday on your fifth anniversary. You have carved a definite niche for yourself and, more importantly, a definite role. You have informed us, shocked us and made us both laugh and cry. You are an essential part of the fabric of our city and country.

But please don't forget to give John Banks heaps too!