Sandra Lee-Vercoe

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Sandra Rose Te Hakamatua Lee-Vercoe (née Lee) QSO (8 August 1952 - ) is a former New Zealand politician and diplomat. She served as deputy leader (and briefly leader) of the Alliance party, and was later High Commissioner to Niue.

Lee was born in Wellington, but has spent much of her life in Auckland. Her involvement in politics began with the foundation of Mana Motuhake, a Māori issues party, in 1979. Her political career, however, did not begun until 1983, with her election to the Waiheke County Council. She became chairperson of the Council in 1989. When Waiheke was amalgamated into Auckland proper, Lee became a member of the Auckland City Council.

In 1991, Lee became president of Mana Motuhake. Shortly after this, Mana Motuhake agreed to become a founding member of the Alliance, a coalition of minor parties. In the 1993 elections, Lee successfully contested the Auckland Central electorate as an Alliance candidate, defeating the incumbent Richard Prebble. Upon the retirement of Mana Motuhake founder Matiu Rata in 1994, Lee became Mana Motuhake's political leader. In November 1994, when Jim Anderton stepped down as leader of the Alliance for personal reasons, Lee took his place. Anderton returned to the leadership in May 1995.

When a Labour-Alliance coalition government was formed after the 1999 elections, Lee became Minister of Local Government, Minister of Conservation, and Associate Minister of Māori Affairs. She was ranked seventh in Cabinet.

When, in 2002, the Alliance began to split between a strongly left-wing faction (led by Matt McCarten and Laila Harré) and a more moderate faction (led by Anderton), Lee generally backed Anderton, but eventually decided to retire from politics. In the 2002 elections, she did not stand for either the Alliance (now led by McCarten and Harré) or Anderton's new Progressive Coalition.

Lee was High Commissioner to Niue, representing the New Zealand and UK governments, from 12 February 2003 to 3 October 2005.

[edit] Elected offices and ministerial posts in chronological order

1983-1989: Member, Waiheke County Council
1989: Chair, Waiheke County Council
1989-1994 (January): Councillor, Auckland City Council
1993-1996: Member of Parliament (Alliance), Auckland Central
1996-2002: Member of Parliament (List) (Alliance)
1999 (December)-2002: Minister of the Crown (Local Government, Conservation, Associate Māori Affairs), Labour-Alliance government