Desley Elisabeth Charlotte Simpson (née Lawson) is a New Zealand politician who is an Auckland councillor. In October 2022, Simpson was chosen as the deputy mayor of Auckland.

Early life

Simpson grew up in the

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

suburb of

Remuera Remuera is an affluent suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian era, Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy ...

, and attended

Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland Diocesan School for Girls (Dio) is a private girls' school in Epsom, New Zealand, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. It is consistently a top-achieving school nationally. The school is Anglican-based and was established in 1903. It caters to internatio ...

, where her mother, Leonie Lawson, was head of music. She learned to play the organ at Diocesan, and is still an organist. Simpson's grandfather Sir James Donald was also a politician in Auckland and she paid tribute to him in her maiden speech and wore the fob chain presented to him when he became deputy chairman of the

Auckland Harbour Board The Auckland Harbour Board was a public body that operated the ports of both Auckland and Onehunga from 1871 to 1988 and was dissolved in 1989. Its successor organisation is Ports of Auckland, which assumed the possessions and responsibilities o ...

in 1935.

Political career

Simpson is a member of the

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 ...

. She chaired the Hobson Community Board in the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...

. With the merger of Auckland City Council into the

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 ...

, Simpson was elected to the Ōrākei Local Board at the

2010 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2010. * 2010 United Nations Security Council election * 2010 national electoral calendar * 2010 local electoral calendar Africa * 2010 Burkinabé presidential election * 2010 Burundian Senate election * ...

and became the chairperson. She was re-elected in 2013. At the 2016 Auckland elections, Simpson stood for the

Ōrākei ward Ōrākei is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the shore of the Waitematā Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and Ōrā ...

on the council, following an announcement by incumbent

Cameron Brewer Cameron Eric Brewer (born 8 March 1973) is a New Zealand politician and former journalist. A member of the National Party, Brewer has been a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Upper Harbour since 2023. He was previousl ...

that he would not stand for re-election. Simpson stood for

Communities and Residents Communities and Residents (C&R) is a Right-wing politics, right-leaning Local government, local body Ticket (election), ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland Cit ...

, despite the formation of Auckland Future, a group supported by the National Party. Simpson was elected to council in a landslide, receiving over 18,000 votes. The

Mayor of Auckland The mayor of Auckland is the elected head of local government in the Auckland Region of New Zealand's North Island; one of 67 Mayors in New Zealand, mayors in the country. The principle city of the region (and its namesake) is Auckland. The may ...

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand retired politician and former diplomat. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, le ...

, appointed her as the deputy chair of the finance and performance committee. Simpson was re-elected in the 2022 Auckland elections, and was chosen by incoming mayor Wayne Brown as the deputy mayor of Auckland. In May 2025, Communities & Residents president David Hay confirmed that Simpson had resigned from the party 18 months earlier. In June 2025, Simpson announced that she would not run for mayor in that year's local elections, following months of speculation that she would. Simpson instead endorsed Wayne Brown's re-election campaign. In the same announcement, she said that she would run for re-election in the Ōrākei ward.

Personal life

Simpson is married to the former National Party president, Peter Goodfellow. She was previously married to National MP, Scott Simpson, and they separated in 2004 or 2005. Since September 2008, she has lived with Goodfellow, who defeated her former husband for the party presidency in 2009. Simpson was appointed a justice of the peace in 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Desley 21st-century New Zealand women politicians Auckland Councillors Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Living people People educated at Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand justices of the peace