Laila Harré

Laila Jane Harré is a New Zealand politician and trade unionist. She was a Member of Parliament for the left-wing Alliance party, and later became the party's leader after the group experienced a schism.

Harré was born in 1966, and was educated in Auckland. At university, she gained both a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and a Bachelor of Laws degree. After leaving university, she worked for some time as a lawyer specializing in industrial relations and employment law, developing close links to the trade union movement.

Harré joined the Labour Party in 1982, but quickly became disillusioned with it. In particular, she objected to the policies advanced by Roger Douglas, who became Minister of Finance when Labour won the 1984 election. Douglas, an advocate of free market economics, introduced a program of radical reforms which alienated many of Labour's traditional supporters, including Harré.

In 1987, Harré resigned from the Labour Party. She became a founding member of the NewLabour Party, an organization led by dissident Labour MP Jim Anderton. NewLabour later amalgamated with several other left-wing groups to form the Alliance. Harré stood as the Alliance candidate for the Te Atatu electorate in the 1993 elections, but was unsuccessful.

In the 1996 elections, which were held under the new MMP electoral system, Harré was ranked in eighth place on the Alliance list. The Alliance gained a sufficient number of votes for Harré to enter parliament.

After the 1999 elections, the Alliance formed a coalition government with Labour (which had by then backed away from many of the policies introduced by Douglas). Harré became Minister of Women's Affairs and Minister of Youth Affairs. She later gained additional responsibilities as Minister of Statistics.

In 2002, however, the Alliance began to show signs of internal strain. In particular, some members of the party felt that it has become too "subordinate" to the Labour Party, and sought to take more radical policy positions on many issues. Jim Anderton and a majority of Alliance MPs were opposed to this faction, which was based mainly in the non-parliamentary party organization (led by Matt McCarten). Harré, however, supported the more radical faction, and became its "de facto" leader in parliament.

The collapse of the Alliance soon became inevitable, with Anderton and his supporters deciding to contest the 2002 elections as a new party (the Progressives). Harré, considered to be the foremost of the MPs who remained behind, was chosen to lead what remained of the Alliance into its election campaign, aiming to at least retain a presence in parliament. Harré herself was seen as the party's best chance of keeping a parliamentary seat, having a relatively strong chance of winning the seat of Waitakere. In the election itself, however, Harré placed second, being defeated by Labour's Lynne Pillay.

The following year, Harré stepped down as leader of the Alliance, being replaced by Matt McCarten. She remains the party's spokesperson on tertiary education, social justice, and youth affairs. She is presently elected by the National Distribution Union in the role of National Secretary.