Kate Hawkesby: Do we need our mayors to work well with media?

There’s an interesting dichotomy going on in terms of leadership in our big cities at the moment - and I refer specifically to Auckland’s Wayne Brown versus Wellington’s Tory Whanau.

We had Tory on the show yesterday, she’s great talent, bubbly, vivacious, chatty, easy to talk to. You can see why she does a lot of interviews, she’s got good chat, and media love to have people like her on.

Good talent is good talent, and they often make the headlines and get the coverage because of it. But does that make her a good Mayor? Does that effusive personality make her any better at her job of running and managing a city? Because the obvious contrast is Wayne Brown.

Also a guest on this show pre his election win and at the time I said to him at the end of the interview that he could probably work on his rapport with interviewers and be a bit more personable.

He was gruff, direct, not interested in winning favour or friends, he was laser focussed on a job he had to do and he didn’t really give the impression he wanted to curry favour along the way. But does that make him a bad mayor?

The media would have you believe so. They hate him. They hate him because he doesn’t suck up to them, he doesn’t chat, he won’t do interviews and he doesn’t care about them.

The media likes people who care about the media, also known as Jacinda Ardern.

Part of her gigantic swing into power was a media fuelled campaign of ‘Jacindamania’ whereby they literally could not get enough of her, smiling and beaming at everyone, waving and chatting, delivering catchy one liners and being great interview talent because she loved to talk.

Sadly, though, how’s that turned out for us?

All that chat hasn’t really morphed into solid runs on the board has it? For all the smiles and high fives we haven’t got poverty sorted or healthcare or housing or inflation or anything else she promised to do. But she looked good promising it all didn’t she?

She was enthusiastic, relentlessly optimistic.. I think is what she said she was. Yet admirable as all that enthusiasm is, it doesn’t fix potholes or get you taken care of in Hospital.

So back to Brown. Media darling he is not. It’s early days, but he is doing what he said would do. Unusual concept for a politician. But he is not grandstanding on podiums and firing out press releases and obsessing over imaging, comms and PR. He doesn’t need to.

He articulated early and clearly what he would do if elected and now he is looking to do just that. At this stage he looks like a political unicorn and for his all gruffness and rough edges… you have to say, he at least seems genuine.  

We’re not used to that kind of authenticity. We’re not used to politicians who don’t want to suck up and smile and be all over the media.

I mean obviously he’s going to have difficulty balancing his practical realities with taking on an institutionalised local body with entrenched bureaucracy, supported by a sympathetic government, who has a sycophantic media in their back pocket.. that unquestionably is going to make his delivery difficult.

But can you blame him for trying? Good on him for at least giving it a crack. So while I’d far rather spend my morning chatting to Tory Whanau on air because she’s great talent, I don’t know that that necessarily makes her any better as mayor?

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