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 Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

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 kilo ...

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). Uni ...

. Lee was President of United Future at the time. She later left United Future and joined the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

. She stood on the

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

during the 2011 election but was not ranked high enough to be elected.

Auckland Council

Lee was elected to the

as a Communities & Residents candidate at the 2013 elections, 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 No ...

, 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 Priyanca Radhakrishnan (born 1979) is a New Zealand politician who has been elected to the New Zealand parliament since the 2017 general election as a representative of the New Zealand Labour Party and is currently Minister for the Community ...

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