Sandra Rose Te Hakamatua Lee-Vercoe (born 8 August 1952) is a former New Zealand politician and diplomat. She served as deputy leader (and briefly leader) of the
Alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
party and was later
High Commissioner to
Niue
Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...
.
Early life
Lee was born in
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
to an
English Romani father and a
Māori mother, and grew up in a two bedroom Māori Affairs house with her parents, grandfather and great grandfather.
She was educated at
Onslow College. Lee later moved to Auckland, settling on Waiheke Island.
Her involvement in politics began with the foundation of
Mana Motuhake, a Māori issues party, in 1979. Her political career, however, did not begin 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.
Lee connects to Poutini
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...
,
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...
and
Ngāti Toa
Ngāti Toa, also called Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and the northern South Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Toa remains a small iwi with a population of ...
.
Member of Parliament
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. At the 1992 Alliance party conference Lee was elected the co-leader of the party alongside
Jeanette Fitzsimons
Jeanette Mary Fitzsimons (née Gaston; 17 January 1945 – 5 March 2020) was a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. She was the co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 1995 to 2009, and was a Member of Parliament from ...
.
In the
1993 election, Lee became the first Māori woman to win a general seat (
James Carroll being the first man in 1893) when she successfully contested the 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
James Patrick Anderton (born Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of Left-wing politics, left-wing parties after leaving the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party in 1989.
Anderton's pol ...
stepped down as leader of the Alliance for personal reasons, Lee took his place but Lee persuaded Anderton to return to the leadership in May 1995. Lee lost her Auckland Central seat to Labour's
Judith Tizard
Judith Ngaire Tizard (born 3 January 1956) is a former New Zealand politician, and a member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party.
Early life and career
Tizard was born at Auckland's St Helen's maternity hospital in Pitt Street in 1956. ...
at the
1996 election.
Cabinet member
When a
Labour-Alliance coalition government was formed after the
1999 election, Lee became
Minister of Local Government,
Minister of Conservation, and Associate Minister of Māori Affairs.
She was ranked seventh in
Cabinet. During her time as Minister of Conservation Lee was known as an outspoken opponent of commercial whaling.
As Minister of Local Government, Lee oversaw significant reform including the development and passage of the
Local Electoral Act 2001, and the development and introduction of the
Local Government Act 2002
The Local Government Act 2002 (sometimes known by its acronym, LGA) is an act of New Zealand's New Zealand Parliament, Parliament that defines local government in New Zealand. There are 73 territorial authorities (districts and cities), each w ...
and Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.
She lost the position as Mana Motuhake leader in 2001, after a
leadership challenge by
Willie Jackson. Lee believed that personal matters pertaining to her, such as her relationship with
Te Puni Kōkiri
Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK, also called in English the Ministry of Māori Development) is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori people, Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māor ...
staffer Anaru Vercoe, were used to discredit her as leader of Mana Motuhake. Commentators also noted there was an element of revenge by Jackson, as he had been demoted in the
1996 party list in order to make room for
Alamein Kopu, who had been elevated in the party list upon Lee's persuasion.
Retirement
By the end of her term in parliament, the Alliance began to divide between Jim Anderton's moderate faction (including Lee) that held most of the parliamentary power, and the strongly left-wing faction, represented by most rank-and-file members and party president
Matt McCarten and four of the Alliance MPs (including
Laila Harré). The latter accused Anderton (and by extension, Lee) of moving the Alliance too close to Labour and not being distinct enough. The Alliance had fallen below the 5% threshold in polls. By March 2002, tensions had gotten so bad that McCarten and Lee had a 'swearing match' at a meeting in the Alliance's Wellington premises.
On 3 April 2002, both Anderton and Lee announced their refusal to stand under the Alliance banner at the
2002 election. Anderton went on to form the
Progressive Coalition while Harré led the Alliance into the election (which saw them knocked out of parliament), but Lee did not stand and retired from politics that year.
Lee-Vercoe has continued to be politically active by being a guest commentator on issues affecting Māori and New Zealand on ''
Te Karere'', ''
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...
'', ''Native Affairs'' and ''Radio Waatea''. Her career as a parliamentarian was honoured and highlighted in the ''Matangireia'' documentary series, released in 2019, that documented former Māori politicians and their legacy.
Diplomat
Lee was
High Commissioner to
Niue
Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...
, representing the New Zealand government, from 12 February 2003 to 3 October 2005.
Board member
In September 2006 Lee was appointed to the board of
Housing New Zealand. In July 2007 she was appointed to the board of Te Papa Tongarewa.
Political offices

* 1983–1989: Member, Waiheke County Council
* 1989: Chair, Waiheke County Council
* 1989–1994 (January): Councillor, Auckland City Council
* 1993–1996: Member of Parliament (
Alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
), Auckland Central
* 1996–2002: Member of Parliament (List) (
Alliance
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
)
* 1999 (December) – 2002: Minister of the Crown (Local Government, Conservation, Associate Māori Affairs), Labour-Alliance government
Personal life
At age 16, Lee married
Mike Lee
Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...
, giving birth to their elder daughter at age 17. They separated in 1992. She has been married to Anaru Vercoe since 2002.
New Zealand journalist and television producer,
Annabelle Lee-Mather, is Lee's daughter.
List
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee-Vercoe, Sandra
Living people
1952 births
Alliance (New Zealand political party) MPs
Companions of the Queen's Service Order
Ngāi Tahu people
Ngāti Kahungunu people
New Zealand people of Romani descent
High commissioners of New Zealand to Niue
Leaders of political parties in New Zealand
Auckland City Councillors
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand women ambassadors
Women government ministers of New Zealand
Māori MPs
People educated at Onslow College
New Zealand list MPs
Mana Motuhake politicians
New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
People from Waiheke Island
21st-century New Zealand politicians
21st-century New Zealand women politicians
Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
21st-century New Zealand diplomats
21st-century New Zealand women public servants
People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa