Mike Lee (New Zealand politician)

Lee was first elected to the Auckland Regional Council as an Alliance candidate in a by-election in 1992.{{cite news |date=20 February 1992 |title=Alliance scoops byelection vote |page=1 |work=The New Zealand Herald}} He was re-elected as a councillor at every election thereafter until the regional council's dissolution in 2010.

He held the position of parks chairman (the council managed a number of regional parks),{{cite news |date=10 August 2000 |title=Many strings pull future of historic city sanctuary |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=147237&pnum=0 |accessdate=31 March 2010}} and oversaw the acquisition of substantial further parkland by the council during his time.{{cite web |title=Cr Michael Lee Auckland Regional Council Chairman |url=http://www.arc.govt.nz/albany/index.cfm?DA23B384-14C2-3D2D-B902-790F2BB2E450 |accessdate=31 March 2010 |work=Auckland Regional Council website}} He succeeded in opposing the privatisation of Ports of Auckland. He wrote his MSc thesis on such matters as land titles on Hauraki Gulf islands.{{cite news |date=18 March 2010 |title=Ask Phoebe: Tiny isle belongs to no one |work=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10632696 |accessdate=26 March 2010}} In 2004 he was elected as chair of the regional council and held that position until 2010. Before becoming chair of the council, Lee was at times called a 'maverick' for opposing its more conservative members.

One of his key projects in the 2000s was successfully pushing forward the electrification of Auckland's rail network, succeeded by his support for the construction of the City Rail Link tunnel to increase the capacity of the rail system, both projects often against strong opposition from national government.{{cite news |date=29 September 2009 |title=Lee hits back at minister over city rail |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10600155 |accessdate=25 February 2012}} Lee was also instrumental in a campaign that resulted in the reopening of the Onehunga Branch rail line to passenger traffic, allowing services to begin on the Onehunga Line in 2010.{{cite news |last=Dearnaley |first=Mathew |date=21 April 2010 |title=Work starts at new Onehunga rail station |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10639743 |accessdate=8 December 2017}}

While on the regional council, Lee contested election to Parliament in {{NZ electorate link|Rodney}} in the {{NZ election link|1996}} as an Alliance Party candidate and came second after National's Lockwood Smith.{{cite web |title=Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Rodney |url=http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_1996/pdf/6.1%20Rodney%2044.pdf |accessdate=6 July 2013 }}

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{{Auckland Council|affiliation=Independent|ward=Waitematā and Gulf|start=2010|end=2013}}

{{Auckland Council|affiliation=Independent|ward=Waitematā and Gulf|start=2013|end=2016}}

{{Auckland Council|affiliation=None|ward=Waitematā and Gulf|start=2016|end=2019}}

{{Auckland Council|affiliation=Auckland Independents|ward=Waitematā and Gulf|start=2022|end=present}}

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With the amalgamation of the Regional Council into the Auckland Council in 2010, Lee was elected in the Waitematā and Gulf ward.{{cite news |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10631473 |title=First blood to left in boundary changes |date=12 March 2010 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=31 March 2010 |first=Bernard |last=Orsman}} He served three terms as an independent, left-leaning councillor. He was chair of the transport committee from 2010 to 2016 and was additionally appointed as a director of the council's independent transport authority, Auckland Transport.{{cite news |last=Hewitson |first=Michele |date=4 December 2010 |title=Mike Lee |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10691903 |accessdate=30 January 2011}}

He was critical of the form of the new council as created by the Fifth National Government (though he supported the creation of the council itself), and especially of the creation of large business-like council-controlled organisations (CCOs) to manage substantial parts of the council-owned assets and services at arm's length from actual council control.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10632065 |title=Mike Lee: The Government is no longer listening |date=15 March 2010 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=31 March 2010}}

Lee was re-elected in the 2016 Auckland elections, despite a challenge from Bill Ralston.{{cite web | url=http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/HowCouncilWorks/Elections/Documents/Confirmedlocalelectionresults2016.pdf | title=Final Result | date=13 October 2016 | publisher=Auckland Council | url-status=bot: unknown | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019000339/http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/AboutCouncil/HowCouncilWorks/Elections/Documents/Confirmedlocalelectionresults2016.pdf | archivedate=19 October 2016 | df=dmy-all }} He intended to retire after two terms but changed his mind in June 2019, announcing he would contest the 2019 Auckland elections.{{cite news |date=28 June 2019 |title=Veteran Auckland councillor Mike Lee's vote splitting decision to run again |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/113788506/veteran-auckland-councillor-mike-lees-votesplitting-decision-to-run-again |accessdate=28 June 2019}} By this time, the City Vision ticket, which had endorsed Lee in 2016 by not fielding a candidate, had selected Pippa Coom as its candidate in March 2019 on the understanding that Lee would not stand again.{{cite web |date=13 March 2019 |title=City Vision selects a fresh face for Waitematā and Gulf |url=https://cityvision.org.nz/news/city-vision-selects-a-fresh-face-for-waitemata-and-gulf/ |accessdate=28 June 2019 |publisher=City Vision}} Lee finished second to Coom in the October 2019 election.{{cite news |date=18 October 2019 |title=Mike Lee's career in local politics over: final results confirm Pippa Coom has won his seat |work=New Zealand Herald |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12277794 |accessdate=20 October 2019}}

Lee contested the 2022 Auckland Council elections in the Waitematā and Gulf ward against Coom. The centre-right political group Communities and Residents endorsed him by declining to stand a candidate.{{Cite web |last=Niall |first=Todd |date=2022-07-19 |title=Auckland Council election: Political veteran Mike Lee attempts comeback |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/129315130/auckland-council-election-political-veteran-mike-lee-attempts-comeback |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=Stuff |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Political veterans eye up seats on Auckland Council |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/political-veterans-maurice-williamson-mike-lee-george-wood-eyeing-seats-on-auckland-council/RJYXNGZDRR4QATCRWNLHNA7RD4/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} In what was considered one of the biggest upsets of the 2022 Auckland elections, Lee defeated Coom by a margin of 1161 votes and became the councillor for Waitematā and Gulf once again.{{Cite web |title=Auckland Council's power shift |url=https://www.newsroom.co.nz/auckland-councils-shift-away-from-labour |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=Newsroom|date=8 October 2022 |language=en-NZ}}

Lee was married to Sandra Lee-Vercoe. They separated in 1992.{{cite news |title=ARC chairman keeps the reindeer galloping |first=Michele |last=Hewitson |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10360345 | work=The New Zealand Herald |date=17 December 2005 |accessdate=23 October 2011}}

Lee completed an MSc thesis entitled New Zealand the 10,000 island archipelago at the University of Auckland in 1996 – it has not been published.{{cite journal |last=Cameron |first=Ewen |date=2007 |title=Rotoroa Island, inner Hauraki Gulf, trip report |url= http://bts.nzpcn.org.nz/bts_pdf/ABJ62%282%292007-124-35-Rotoroa.pdf |journal=Auckland Botanical Society Journal |volume=62 |pages=130, 135 |access-date=20 November 2019}} He spent 12 years researching and writing Navigators & Naturalists: French Exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769–1824), which was published in 2018.{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Michael |title=Navigators & Naturalists: French Exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769–1824) |year=2018 |publisher=David Bateman |location=Auckland, New Zealand |isbn=978-1-86953-965-8}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100315071333/http://www.arc.govt.nz/council/councillors/ Mike Lee] (webpage of the former Auckland Regional Council)

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Category:Politicians from Auckland

Category:Auckland Councillors

Category:Living people

Category:Alliance (New Zealand political party) politicians

Category:Auckland regional councillors

Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)