KEY POINTS:
When North Shore City's new mayor Andrew Williams saw yesterday's polling results pushing him ahead of long-time mayor George Wood, he nipped into a hardware store to buy screws to fix a faulty stairway banister at home.
Williams knew the number of friends and supporters expected to celebrate
at his Campbell's Bay home would be big - and the thought of the banister, clinging precariously to the wall, filled him with horror.
"It would not have been a good look if 30 people fell off my banister rail," he said.
Household chores, including fixing the banister after the house was recarpeted, have been on hold while Williams waged a vigorous hands-on campaign against his main rival - mayor for the past nine years.
It was a campaign which saw Williams lose 7kg while he "walked and talked", arranged meetings, built more than 20 billboards and erected them around the North Shore with the help of his wife, Jane.
A month ago, with polls showing George Wood had more than 60 per cent support on the North Shore, Williams admits he thought "this is going to be a big mountain to climb".
Yesterday it was time to say thanks to the supporters who had walked and talked with him, distributing pamphlets and helping to arrange meetings.
With the mayoral job ahead of him, Williams will leave his role as Trade Commissioner representing Belgium in New Zealand but stay on as the honorary vice-consul of Belgium.
The man he beat by fewer than 2000 votes, George Wood, was yesterday gracious in defeat, saying he had left a message on Williams' phone congratulating him.
"You've obviously got to be philosophical and accept that the democratic process has prevailed."
In Manukau, the city's new mayor Len Brown threw his arms in the air and yelled, "Yes, yes, yes!" when the call came through yesterday afternoon to confirm his three-year campaign had paid off.
His lawyer wife, Shirley Ann Inglis, and three daughters hugged him tearfully on the lawn of the Flat Bush School Hall in East Tamaki before the family rejoined supporters inside.
Brown's was a convincing win. By last evening, with 98 per cent of votes counted, Brown's tally stood at more than 32,000, well ahead of runner-up Dick Quax's 17,709, Arthur Anae's 10,683 and talkback host Willie Jackson's 7720.
Brown, a lawyer and former four-term councillor, told the Herald on Sunday he felt "stunning" and "humbled" and that outgoing mayor of 24 years Sir Barry Curtis had been one of his mentors.
"I'm not going to try to fill his shoes. I have to create my own, new shoes," Brown said.
Sir Barry called Brown his "natural successor".
"The city is in good hands," he said.
In Waitakere, Westies stuck with their mayor of 15 years, Bob Harvey, who won what he described as "a war" against his closest rival John Tamihere. He described the Tamihere campaign as one of "bagging and slagging", and said that "Westies did not react well" to it.
Although Waitakere has one of New Zealand's youngest population profiles, it now has one of the oldest mayors in New Zealand. At 66, Harvey said he had worked closely with youth and Maori groups to make sure they had a voice on the council.
Tomorrow morning Harvey will be back at his desk to begin his sixth term as mayor.
He had been through a "punishing" campaign, having accusations thrown at him by the "meanest, cruellest people".
Tamihere was in good spirits yesterday, with a string of quips about his defeat including "blame the Pommie ref", and "the good thing about this election is that I came second and Willie Jackson [Manukau] was fourth".
"Good on Bob, I entered the race quite late in the piece and just wasn't able to pull it back."
More people had voted against the present mayor than for him, but the other candidates had split the vote, Tamihere said.
"But hey ho, another three years of Bob and away we go."
Last night he was "having a good session" at the Croatian Society in Te Atatu.
"They're all good people out here, all those bloody Dalis. Not enough of them voted for me obviously."
Tamihere didn't accept it was an acrimonious campaign. But he said it was right for him to ask questions about the city's borrowings and rates rises, and that Harvey may have found those questions personally insulting.
"He shouldn't be the sooky bubba. He retained his mayoralty. Move on."
