Denise Adrienne Lee (previously Denise Krum; born 4 December 1970) is a New Zealand politician who was the
National Party's Member of Parliament for the
Maungakiekie electorate from 2017 to 2020. She was previously an
Auckland Council local body councillor.
Early years
Lee was born in
Paeroa
Paeroa is a town in the Hauraki District of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou River and Ohinemuri River, and is approximately 20 k ...
in 1970 and is the daughter of
Graeme Lee, who was also a Member of Parliament.
She was married and known as Denise Krum during the start of her political career, before returning to her maiden name following the 2016 local election.
During the
2008 general election, Lee stood in
Maungakiekie for
United Future
United Future New Zealand, usually known as United Future, was a centrist political party in New Zealand. The party was in government between 2005 and 2017, first alongside Labour (2005–2008) and then supporting National (2008–2017).
U ...
. Lee was President of United Future at the time. She later left United Future and joined the
New Zealand National Party. She stood on the
party list during the
2011 election but was not ranked high enough to be elected.
Auckland Council
Lee was elected to the
Auckland Council as a
Communities & Residents candidate at the
2013 elections
The following elections were occurred in the year 2013.
Asia
* 2013 Armenian local elections 26 May, 17 November, and 8 December 2013
* 2013 Armenian presidential election 18 February 2013
* 2013 Bangladeshi presidential election 22 April 2013 ...
, defeating incumbent and former Labour MP
Richard Northey
Richard John Northey (born 28 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. He served on the Auckland Council between 2010 and 2013, and is a member of the Labour Party.
Biography Earl ...
. She ran on the
Auckland Future ticket during the
2016 local elections, and was re-elected with an increased majority.
In 2016, the then newly elected Mayor
Phil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 N ...
, appointed her as the deputy chairperson of the planning committee.
Member of Parliament
In 2017 she announced she would seek selection as the National Party's candidate for at the
2017 general election. On 7 March 2017 Lee was selected as National's candidate for Maungakiekie. She was elected at the 2017 general election with a majority of almost 2000 votes.
She resigned from her position as councillor for the
Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward, effective 12 October 2017, triggering a by-election held on 17 February 2018.
In her maiden speech, Lee noted that the driving force behind her political career was the death of her son. She said that;
Politics really did become personal for me then. A flick of the pen, the wording of an amendment, an exchange in this debating chamber—Parliament's processes affect everyday lives.
When the 52nd Parliament opened, she was appointed as a member of the Education and Workforce select committee.
During the
2020 New Zealand general election
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...
held on 17 October, on preliminary results Lee was ahead of Labour candidate
Priyanca Radhakrishnan by a margin of 580 votes. However, when final results were released she lost the seat to Radhakrishnan by 635 votes.
In 2021 Lee returned to local government when she was elected as a trustee of
Entrust
Entrust Corp., formerly Entrust Datacard, provides software and hardware used to issue financial cards, e-passport production, user authentication for those looking to access secure networks or conduct financial transactions, trust certificat ...
, a trust for electricity consumers in Auckland.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Denise
1970 births
Living people
Auckland Councillors
United Future politicians
New Zealand National Party politicians
21st-century New Zealand women politicians
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2011 New Zealand general election
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates