National MP named in poll of beautiful female politicians

List MP Melissa Lee. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A National Party MP has been named in an international internet poll to find the world's most beautiful female politician.

List MP Melissa Lee is currently number 52 in the poll, which is being run by Spain's 20 Minutos newspaper.

Photos of 60 female politicians from 30 countries were posted on the newspaper's website, with voting buttons under each picture.

The voting forms are still on the website.

Peruvian politicians, Luciana Leon and Mercedes Araoz, are currently ranked first and second, Sarah Palin is 26th and Hillary Clinton is 37th.

British politicians were notably without mention in the poll, which singled out female politicians from countries as diverse as Estonia, Indonesia and Angola.

A journalist from 20 Minutos told Britain's Daily Mail: "I'm afraid Britain's female politicians do not have a great reputation for their beauty.

"But when you look at women politicians worldwide some of them really are very attractive."

A quick look at the 20 Minutos poll this morning however, revealed that one British politician, Caroline Flint, has now been added to the voting list.

Clinton is the oldest woman on the list at 61, while the youngest, German politician Julia Bonk, is just 22.

The poll line-up this morning was:

1. Luciana Leon, Peru
2. Mercedes Aráoz, Peru
3. Mara Carfagna, Italy
4. Yuri Fujikawa, Japan
5. Sara Latife Ruiz Chavez, Mexico
6. Anna-Maria Galojan, Estonia
7. Toireasa Ferris, Ireland
8. Yuliya Tymoshenko, Ukraine
9. Eunice Olsen, Singapore
10. Alina Kabaeva, Russia
11. Orly Levy, Israel
12. Cayetana Álvarez, Spain
13. Vera Lischka, Austria
14. Tsepeli Nikoleta, Greece
15. Gabriela Cuevas, Mexico
16. Marianne Thieme, The Netherlands
17. Carme Chacón, Spain
18. Julia Anastasia Bonk, 23, Germany
19. Bibiana Aído, Spain
20. Cristina Diaz, Mexico
21. Pnina Rosenblum, srael
22. Tanja Karpel, Finland
23. Angelina Sondak, Indonesia
24. Stefania Prestigiacomo, Italy
25. Ruhama Avraham, Israel
26. Sarah Palin, United States
27. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina
28. Freya Van den Bossche, Belgium
29. Anastasia Michael, Israel
30. Sofia Larsen, Sweden
31. Mónica Lorente Ramón, Spain
32. Katrín Gunnarsdótti, Iceland
33. Soraya Sáenz, Spain
34. Stephanie Herseth, United States
35. Melissa Park, Australia
36. Nebahat Albayrak, The Netherlands
37. Hillary Clinton, United States
38. Ségolène Royal, France
39. Delsa Solórzano, Venezuela
40. Isabel dos Santos, Angola
41. Jiang Yu, China
42. Kirsten Gillibrand, United States
43. Sabine Bätzin, Germany
44. Eva Glawischnig, Austria
45. Sabine Herold, France
46. Piia-Noora Kauppi, Finland
47. Hillevi Larsson, Sweden
48. Siv Frioleifsdottir, Iceland
49. Marcela Guerra Castillo, Mexico
50. Kate Ellis, Australia
51. Penny Wong, Australia
52. Melissa Lee, New Zealand
53. Natalie Rickli, Switzerland
54. Malalai Joya, Afghanistan
55. Sethrida Geagea, Lebanon
56. Ruby Dhalla, Canada
57. Malou Aamund, Denmark
58. Sophie Lohde, Denmark
59. Kirsten Brosbol, Denmark
60. Caroline Flint, United Kingdom

- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA