Labour MP Phil Goff looks set to run for Super City

Labour MP Phil Goff looks set to announce next month that he will stand for the Auckland Mayoralty.

Labour MP Phil Goff looks set to announce next month that he will stand for the Auckland Mayoralty - but denied a report he has talked about the deputy mayor's role with Orakei Local Board chairwoman Desley Simpson.

Mr Goff told the Herald he had met Ms Simpson, the wife of National Party president Peter Goodfellow, on a couple of occasions in her role as local board chair.

"I have said if I was to run as a mayoral candidate it wouldn't be on a ticket, but as an independent.

"I'm not entering into pacts with any grouping," Mr Goff said.

He was responding to a story in the National Business Review saying he had been to visit Ms Simpson to talk about the deputy mayor's role.

Ms Simpson told the Herald she met Mr Goff on September 30 at a cafe in Remuera to discuss local matters.

Hand on heart, she said, the deputy mayor's role was "never, ever discussed".

She said she would like to stand for the Orakei ward on council if sitting councillor Cameron Brewer steps down.

Mr Brewer is widely expected to step down next year to focus on a new PR business venture and a new, young family.

Mr Goff said he had not given any thought to a deputy mayor if he did decide to run for the mayoralty.

"The very worst thing you could do in the position of being a candidate would be to make promises to this group or to that group," he said.

Mr Goff, who two weeks ago told the Herald he was "likely" to run for the Super City and make an announcement before Christmas, is now expected to declare his hand next month.

He said he had not discussed standing for the Super City with Mayor Len Brown, who is also a member of the Labour Party.

Mr Brown, who is being urged by allies to step down after a second term marred by revelations of an affair with a council adviser, has not said if he will seek a third term.

"If I do stand I will probably give him (Mr Brown) a phone call beforehand," Mr Goff said.