Forty years after women in New Zealand received the right to vote, Elizabeth McCombs became the first female Member of Parliament.
Elizabeth Mccombs
Personal details
Full Name:
Elizabeth Reid McCombs
Lifetime:
19 Nov 1873 – 7 Jun 1935
Biography
Events In History
13 September 1933
The Labour Party’s Elizabeth McCombs became New Zealand’s first female Member of Parliament, winning a by-election in the Lyttelton seat caused by the death of her husband, James McCombs.
6 December 1922
Although the first elections for New Zealand’s House of Representatives were held in 1853, it would be another 69 years before residents of the isolated Chatham Islands (Rēkohu or Wharekauri) were able to vote for members of Parliament.
Main image: Elizabeth McCombs
Image of Elizabeth McCombs, the first woman to become a Member of Parliament in New Zealand when she was elected as a Labour Party candidate in a Lyttelton by-election in 1933.
