“Some people think I should become Prime Minister.”

Lawrence Yule is getting set to make the biggest move in his career. He’s hanging up his mayoral chains this week, to take on a much bigger beast.

Looking back over his reign, he has mixed thoughts. “I’ve been the mayor for 15 years and some of the things I’m most concerned about, I can’t change." 

"They are around the environment, income and inequality issues, and social issues such as methamphetamine. We live in a fantastic part of the world, and I’ve travelled a lot, but we have some quite big people issues and I can’t actually do much as the mayor.”

The 54-year-old will contest for the Tukituki seat in September’s general election. He wants to swap the large, comfortable mayoral office at the Hastings District Council, for a small seat in the back of parliament for the National Party.

“I’ve loved the role; it’s one of best jobs in the world. I’ve been here a long time and I know people well, so it’s something completely different. The closer I’ve got to the change, the more I realise it’s time. My decision to go now is the right one.”

Yule said he’s thought a lot about going from top dog as the city’s longest-sitting mayor – to the lowest-ranked member of a party.

“It comes with the territory. This is a career change for me and if I win in September, I will be going in as if I were a third former starting a new high school.

“Bill English made an observation to me, that when you go into parliament you are seated according to your surname. So I will be seated right down the back of parliament. He said it will be very motivational."

His family are right behind him, although they know the pressure of having a father in a high-profile role.

“My children have been through a marriage break-up while I was mayor and that was pretty tough. But they are older now and they get it, and they’re very proud of me and they just want to get on.”

Despite the support, it could be difficult for Yule to escape some of his biggest blunders while he is campaigning for the National Party on the streets of his city. The most difficult by far was the widely publicised mistakes made during last year’s Havelock North water contamination crisis.

Many angry and upset locals called for his head after the campylobacter outbreak. “Certainly the most challenging issue I’ve faced in my whole time was the Havelock North water crisis. That has been huge.”

Yule also looks back with regret on his handling of the botched development of Ocean Beach in 2008.

“At the time I thought we should have allowed some development in a small part of Ocean Beach so we could forever protect the rest. But the public clearly said they didn’t want any development. I just didn’t get that. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I clearly wasn’t.”

But the relaxed mayor hopes he will be remembered for more than that.

“I’m pretty proud of some big revolutionary projects I’ve led. I’ve led the building of the Pettigrew Green Arena, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park, and the Hawke’s Bay Opera House. The infrastructure is in good shape, the finances are in good shape so I think it’s been a pretty solid term. I’m thrilled to be leaving in a time when the economy is so buoyant.”

He will be up against Labour’s candidate Anna Lorck in the race of the Tukituki seat this September.

In December last year, outgoing MP Craig Foss announced he would not be standing in this year’s election – leaving the candidacy open for the first time since 2005.

Yule is confident he’s got what it takes to survive in parliament.

“Some people think I should become the Prime Minister but that’s not my motivation. It is a very, very special person to first become a Cabinet Minister, and an incredibly special person to become the Prime Minister. I’m not entering this thing to become Prime Minister, I’d like to become a Cabinet Minister and make some influence at some point. Maybe the Minister for Climate Change, or the Minister for the Environment.”

And if he loses? “If I’m not successful in September, and I’m looking for a whole new career, then I’ll be looking at things around climate change and the environment, which are things that stimulate me.”

“It will be the people I miss the most. People are very respectful of mayors and their position. Even if they don’t agree with you, they’ll tell you but respectfully. I’ve had a great deal of wonderful support, I’ve been in people’s homes, shops, factories, in good times and bad, and I’ll miss that.”