Lesley Soper

Lesley Soper (born 5 November 1954) is a New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party list member of Parliament for several months in 2005, replacing Jonathan Hunt, and as of 13 February 2007 she has returned to Parliament (again as a list member) to fill the vacancy caused by Georgina Beyer's resignation.

Soper is a member of the Labour Party, and was ranked 43rd on Labour's party list in the 2002 elections. She has also contested the Clutha-Southland seat since it was created in the 1996 elections, placing second to National's Bill English on each occasion. She entered Parliament upon the retirement of Jonathan Hunt, being declared elected on 4 April 2005 and sworn in the following day. In the 2005 elections, Soper had hoped to contest the Invercargill seat, but was defeated in the nomination process by Wayne Harpur. Her position on the 2005 list was forty-fifth, and she did not return to parliament until 2007.

Lesley has become infamous in Wellington for her characteristic dress sense and 1980s style hair cut. National MP, Katherine Rich quipped in Parliament, "Her dress sense is inspired by a Prince video. That is right; she could have had a part in the “Raspberry Beret” video."Fact|date=April 2008

In addition to serving as Women's Vice President of the Labour Party, Soper has worked for the Council of Trade Unions and the New Zealand Educational Institute. She has also served on the Southland District Health Board.

External links

* [http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/5/b/9/48MP118931-Soper-Lesley.htm Parliament website]
* [http://www.labour.org.nz/our_mps/lesley_soper.html Labour Party website]