Lesley Frances Soper (born 5 November 1954) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Political career

She was a Labour Party list member of Parliament for several months in 2005, replacing Jonathan Hunt, and she returned to Parliament in 2007 to fill the vacancy caused by

Georgina Beyer Georgina Beyer (born November 1957) is a New Zealand politician and former Labour Party Member of Parliament. In 1995 she was elected mayor of Carterton, making her the world's first openly transgender mayor. In 2005 she became the world's ...

's resignation. Soper first stood for Parliament in 1993. She stood in the

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

electorate, coming runner-up to National's

Bill English Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...

. She then proceeded to contest the

Clutha-Southland Clutha-Southland was a parliamentary constituency returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The last MP for Clutha Southland was Hamish Walker of the National Party. He held the seat for one term, being elected at the 2 ...

seat since it was created in the 1996 election, again placing second to English on each occasion. Soper was ranked 43rd on Labour's party list in the 2002 election. While initially missing out on entering parliament, she was able to enter Parliament upon the retirement of Jonathan Hunt, being declared elected on 4 April 2005 and sworn in the following day. In the 2005 election, Soper had hoped to contest the

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

seat, but was defeated in the nomination process by Wayne Harpur. Her position on the 2005 list was forty-fifth, and she did not return to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

until 2007. Soper stood in the Invercargill electorate in the , , and s, twice beaten by National's Eric Roy and then by

Sarah Dowie Sarah Maree Dowie (born 1974) is a New Zealand former politician of the National Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Invercargill from 2014 to 2020. Early life and career Dowie's parents, Ann and Alan Dowie, were both police officers. ...

.Invercargill results, 2011
/ref> After her 2014 defeat, Soper declared that she would not stand again. She contested and won a seat on the Invercargill City Council in 2016.

Other activities

In addition to serving as Women's Vice President of the Labour Party, Soper has worked for the Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Educational Institute. She has also served on the

Southland District Health Board The Southland District Health Board (Southland DHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to an area covering most of Southland and parts of Otago in New Zealand. History The Southland District Health Board, like mo ...

Notes

References

External links