Elizabeth McLeay


Elizabeth McLeay is a New Zealand political scientist. She is currently an Emeritus Professor at Victoria University of Wellington.

Qualifications

McLeay has a Bachelor of Arts from Victoria University of Wellington, a Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching from the Auckland Secondary Teachers’ College, and a PhD from the University of Auckland. Her Doctoral thesis investigated parliamentary careers and cabinet selection in New Zealand.

Career

McLeay has taught at the City of London Polytechnic and the University of Auckland, but spent most of career teaching comparative government and politics at Victoria University of Wellington, from 1990 to 2009. From 2010-2012 McLeay was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow, at the Victoria University of Wellington's School of Law. As of 2019, McLeay is an Emeritus Professor and is currently researching the politics of prisoners' voting rights.

Public Academic

In 2010, McLeay co-signed a letter alongside 26 other constitutional experts, criticising the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010 which was passed after the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. In 2018, McLeay was part of a group of 19 law and politics academics who criticised the so-called "" Bill, which was part of the Labour-NZ First Coalition Agreement. In both instances, McLeay and the constitutional experts were concerned about executive overreach, and the diminishing role of Parliamentary conventions.
In addition to the above, McLeay has submitted evidence to the House of Representatives on both the and the 2011 review of the Parliamentary Standing Orders.

Books

McLeay's books include:
Her partner is Les Holborow.