Jane stands with her man

Jane Williams will play a key part in husband Andrew's mayoralty tilt. Photo / Herald on Sunday

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The wife of "leaky" North Shore mayor Andrew Williams intends to play a central role in his late charge for the Supercity mayoralty.

In a wide-ranging interview, Jane Williams, 52, spoke of her influence on her husband's political career, and says she is fed up with criticism of her husband's eccentric behaviour.

The couple, who were high school sweethearts, say they have put up with increasingly personal attacks since Williams was seen urinating against a tree after being caught short on a night out in Takapuna.

Jane said the criticism "wasn't fair, it wasn't justified".

"It went on for a bit but you had to let it wash over you really. The negativity is hard but you have to get on with the job and move forward."

The clinical nurse manager, whom Williams calls his "stabilising influence", said she helped Williams deal with all the public scrutiny.

She said: "I help him with his comments to media and also to keep things in perspective. I mean, some of that difficult stuff can overwhelm you but it's always important to keep it in context for what it actually is.

"When Andrew is so emotionally involved [I have to] say 'hang on, you need to step back and divorce yourself a bit from this'."

She said she was ready to be thrust into the limelight as Auckland "Supermayoress" should Williams defy the polls and claim the $240,000-a-year job in the October elections.

And she said a makeover could be "quite helpful" if Williams got elected to what would be the second most powerful job in the country.

She said: "At this time in life you need to make the most of your years. I am pretty casual about that sort of thing to be quite honest."

Jane joked that her husband tried to steal her idea to turn the two sheds at Princess Wharf into a "Kiwiana" museum.

The couple have three children, Sam, 24, an architectural student, 21-year-old Nicky, a real estate agent, and Bryony, 17, a Year 12 student at Rangitoto College.

Williams, who announced his candidacy this month, revealed he intended to create four deputy mayors for the regions if elected.

He said: "Everyone thinks [the mayor] will be the white knight on the white horse charging around everywhere sorting everything out. It's such a big role and to ensure that all the regions are close to the mayor in terms of what the mayor's doing, I think you will need four deputies, who would act on behalf of the mayor."

Williams, who once played the Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver, compared his eccentric leadership style to that of Tim Shadbolt and London mayor Boris Johnson.

"I hope in Auckland we want a colourful mayor who is out there leading the field, not a fence sitter."

In contrast to the big budgets of rivals Len Brown and John Banks, Williams said his campaign team was made up of volunteers who helped elect him on the Shore.

He said he would refuse to enter into mud-slinging.

He said: "I won't fight with fire. I don't want to get involved in scuttlebutt. I will be fighting a campaign on what Auckland needs and the issues in Auckland and how we can take the city forward. It is about lifting the level of politics in New Zealand above the trivia."