Christine Elizabeth Fletcher (née Lees, born 25 January 1955) is a New Zealand politician. Currently an

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

councillor, she was previously a

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

Member of Parliament from 1990 to 1999, and served one term as

Mayor of Auckland City The Mayor of Auckland City was the directly elected head of the Auckland City Council, the municipal government of Auckland City, New Zealand. The office existed from 1871 to 2010, when the Auckland City Council and mayoralty was abolished and ...

between 1998 and 2001. In October 2010 she became the co-leader of the Auckland

local body Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

Citizens & Ratepayers Communities and Residents (C&R) is a right-leaning local body ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland City Council and preventing left-leaning Labour Party contr ...

after winning the Albert-Eden-Roskill ward on the new Auckland Council.

Early life and family

Fletcher was born in 1955, the daughter of Shirley and Ted Lees, the founder of heavy machinery and marine engine company Lees Industries. Educated at

St Cuthbert's College, Auckland St Cuthbert's College is a private (independent) Presbyterian-based day and boarding school for girls aged 4 to 18 (Years 0 to 13), located in Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. The school was established in 1915 in Mt Eden, and has a roll of appro ...

, she was married to

Angus Fletcher Angus Fletcher was a British businessman and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Fletcher was made Justice of the Peace in 1855. He was appointed member of the Legislative Council on 10 December 1860 in room of George Lyall who resign ...

, and was thus the sister-in-law of former

Fletcher Challenge Fletcher Challenge was a multinational corporation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, i ...

CEO Hugh Fletcher and his wife Chief Justice

Sian Elias Dame Sian Seerpoohi Elias (born 13 March 1949) was the 12th chief justice of New Zealand, and was therefore the most senior member of the country's judiciary. She was the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and on several occas ...

Political career

Member of Parliament

At the 1990 general election, Fletcher was the National Party candidate for the Eden electorate, and defeated the Labour incumbent,

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 then held the seat at the 1993 election. After Labour MP

Peter Dunne Peter Francis Dunne (born 17 March 1954) is a New Zealand retired politician. Dunne was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ōhāriu electorate and its predecessors from 1984 to 2017, first as a member of the Labour Party from 1984 to 1 ...

became an independent MP in October 1994 Fletcher approached him to join the National Party. Dunne declined the offer however. She won the new Epsom electorate in the 1996 election, and was subsequently appointed to the ministerial roles of Local Government, Women's Affairs and Cultural Affairs. However, she resigned 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.

Mayor of Auckland City

Fletcher retired as an MP in 1999, having been elected

at the 1998 local-body elections. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Cath Tizard. Fletcher's mayoralty was characterised by the decision to progress with the

Britomart Transport Centre Britomart Station, officially Waitematā railway station, and formerly known as Britomart Transport Centre, is the public transport hub in the central business district of Auckland and the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk rai ...

in downtown Auckland. In 2001 she was defeated by John Banks, another former

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

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. In 1993 Fletcher was awarded a

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In the

2002 New Year Honours New Years' Honours are announced on or around the date of the New Year in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supplements to the London G ...

, Fletcher was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services. She ran again for the mayoralty in October 2004, but finished third behind

Dick Hubbard Richard John Hubbard (born 18 November 1946) is a New Zealand businessman and politician, founder and former principal of Hubbard Foods in Auckland, and mayor of Auckland City from 2004 to 2007. He was elected mayor of Auckland City on 9 Octob ...

and Banks.

Life after mayoralty and return to politics

After her mayoral term, Fletcher became involved in various community organisations, including the Motutapu Trust, a conservation body involved in protecting

Motutapu Island Motutapu Island is a island in the Hauraki Gulf to the northeast of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. The island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. The island can be accessed via regular ferry services departing from Auckland City. ...

in the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2, She was a contributor in 2004 to a book by the Better Democracy group, promoting citizen participation in the New Zealand democratic process. In 2010 she announced her candidacy for the Albert-Eden-Roskill ward on the 2010 Auckland local elections, new Auckland council, where she eventually succeeded in polling highest for one of the two available councillor seats in her ward. She considered that working for a CBD rail tunnel was one of her main priorities, extending the capacity of Britomart, whose construction she had successfully fought for in her mayoral term. Fletcher was re-elected in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Christine 1955 births Living people People educated at St Cuthbert's College, Auckland Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates New Zealand National Party MPs Mayors of Auckland Women mayors of places in New Zealand Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Auckland Councillors Companions of the Queen's Service Order

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on Stephen King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' ( ...

21st-century New Zealand politicians 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993