As for the Christian Democrats, they had a relatively broader base. In New Zealand, the New Life Churches (some of which were then known as "New Life Centres") had a history of recent anti-abortion, anti-feminist and anti-gay activism, particularly in Christchurch, from the mid-seventies onward. Like Lee, many had joined the National Party, only to become disillusioned as it rejected social conservatism in favour of a more pluralist model as it sought to reach out to urban liberals. Brett Knowles documented and analysed the New Life Churches and their denominational history in 1999.