Christine Fletcher

The Honourable Christine Elizabeth Fletcher QSO
37th Mayor of Auckland City
In office 1998–2001
Preceded by	Les Mills
Succeeded by	John Banks
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Epsom
In office 1996 – 1999
Preceded by	Seat created
Succeeded by	Richard Worth
Personal details
Born	(1955-12-02) 2 December 1955 New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	National

Christine Fletcher, QSO (born 25 January 1955) is an Auckland Council councillor and also prominent for her former New Zealand politics positions, both in Parliament and as Mayor of Auckland City. She was the second woman to serve as mayor of Auckland. In October 2010 she became the co-leader of the Auckland local body ticket Citizens & Ratepayers after winning the Albert-Eden-Roskill ward on the new Auckland Council.^[1]

Early life and family

Fletcher was educated at St Cuthbert's College, Auckland. She was married to Angus Fletcher, and was the sister in-law of former Fletcher Challenge CEO Hugh Fletcher and his wife Chief Justice Sian Elias.Daughter of Shirley and Ted Lees (see Daniel Edward Lees at www.businesshalloffame.co.nz)

Political career

Member of Parliament

Fletcher won the Eden electorate off Labour's Richard Northey for National in the 1990 election, and held it in the 1993 election.

She then won the new Epsom electorate in the 1996 election,^[2] and held the ministerial roles of Local Government, Women's, Cultural and Youth Affairs before resigning as a Minister on 11 September 1997, because she objected to the sale of the assets of the Auckland Regional Services Trust proposed by National.^[3]

Mayor of Auckland City

She retired as an MP in 1999, having been elected Mayor of Auckland City. She was noted for the decision to progress with the Britomart Transport Centre in downtown Auckland city. In 2001 she was defeated by John Banks, another former National MP. She continued her opposition to Banks in the following years, particularly opposing the Eastern Transport Corridor which Banks had proposed as a major motorway, and which she noted she had been opposing for more than a decade by then.^[4]

In attempting to regain the mayoralty in October 2004, she was overshadowed by the incumbent and by new challenger Dick Hubbard. She eventually placed third.

Life after mayoralty and return to politics

After her mayoral term, Fletcher did not run for elected office for several years, and was primarily involved in work like with the Mototapu Trust, a conservation movement involved in protecting a prominent island in the Hauraki Gulf.^{[citation needed]}

She was a contributor in 2004 to a book by the Better Democracy group, promoting citizen participation in the New Zealand democratic process.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010 she announced her candidacy for the Albert-Eden-Roskill ward on the new Auckland council,^[5] where she eventually succeeded in polling highest for one of the two available Councillor seats in her ward. She considers working for a CBD rail tunnel one of her main priorities, extending the capacity of Britomart for whose construction she had successfully fought for in her mayoral time.^[3]

References

External links

• July 2004 statement – Consensus is the way forward for Auckland
• Archived Ministerial Profile with portrait
• Archived Ministerial Profile also