Third spell from minister of magic

John Banks. Photo / Brett Phibbs

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Transmogrification - it's a word John Banks uses to distance himself from an abrasive political past; to persuade voters that he has become a kinder, more tolerant leader.

In July 2007, launching his bid to reclaim the Auckland City mayoralty from Dick Hubbard, Banks told the Herald's Bernard Orsman he had undergone a "transmogrification".

He was referring to his conversion from a pro-roading to a pro-public transport advocate, but the word has come to stand for his political approach - mellower than the redneck of his Parliament and Talkback radio days.

It means "to transform in a surprising or magical manner", according to the Oxford Dictionary.

But the 2007 campaign was not the first time Banks had claimed to have transmogrified. In his first term as mayor, in 2002, he told the Herald's Warren Gamble of his "transmogrification": "I now occupy the sort of role that's better associated with a statesman than a bar-room brawler Member of Parliament.

"The style has had to dial back from that of overbearing and autocratic to more of a leadership role around respecting divergent points of view ... "

Things didn't quite turn out that way - his first mayoralty is remembered for clashes with activists and personal attacks on political opponents.

The word was first used in relation to Banks by veteran Herald political columnist John Armstrong. After National won the 1990 election, Armstrong commented: "Banks will have to transmogrify himself overnight and discard the skin of Opposition for the thicker hide of Government."

The advice wasn't heeded - though the word clearly impressed Banks and Armstrong's comment was included in his 1997 biography.

Critics wonder whether the transmogrified Banks of 2010 is a magic trick.