125th anniversary of Suffrage in New Zealand

Mabel Howard becomes first female Cabinet minister

29 May 1947

Mabel Howard, 1960
Mabel Howard, 1960 (Alexander Turnbull Library, EP/1960/0845-F)

First elected to Parliament for Christchurch East in a by-election in February 1943, Mabel Howard became a high-profile and sometimes flamboyant minister in the first two Labour governments. 

She won the new electorate of Sydenham in 1946 and held this seat until her retirement in 1969. Following the death of Dan Sullivan in April 1947, she was appointed minister of health and minister in charge of child welfare, becoming the first woman to serve as a Cabinet minister in New Zealand.

Coming from a strong trade union background, Howard declared her concern for ‘women, the aged, the sick and the unfortunate’. She had a forthright manner and a reputation for saying what was on her mind. She caused a fuss in September 1954 when, during a lacklustre debate on the Merchandise Marks bill, she waved two pairs of her bloomers in front of an astonished House. She was demonstrating that although clothing sizes were supposed to be standardised and correctly labelled, in practice there was much variation. The ploy worked. While clothing manufacturers criticised the stunt, she received much support (including some from the National Party) and standardisation was soon legislated.

In the Walter Nash-led second Labour government (1957-60) Howard was minister of social security, minister in charge of the welfare of women and children, and minister in charge of the Child Welfare Department. Her reputation for lacking tact and being unnecessarily antagonistic towards departmental officials and doctors apparently contributed to Nash’s decision not to restore her to the health portfolio.

Howard was re-elected with large majorities in 1963 and 1966, when Labour was in opposition. She stood down in 1969 after the Labour Party introduced a mandatory retirement age. Her health had been declining and she was in the early stages of dementia. A court order saw her committed to Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, where she died in June 1972.

Community contributions

2 comments have been posted about Mabel Howard becomes first female Cabinet minister

What do you know?

Jamie M

Posted: 23 Oct 2019

Hi Karen - thanks for this. I think we meant to say first woman Cabinet minister in Commonwealth outside of the UK but this latter bit got left out. Have reworded now to just say first in NZ.

Karen Radcliffe

Posted: 21 Oct 2019

I am confused by the statement that Mabel Howard was the first female cabinet minister in the commonwealth. This is misleading as there had been female cabinet ministers in the English government prior to and after the Commonwealth was formed in 1931. See Margaret Bondfield who was Minister of Labour in the 1929 - 1931 Labour government in England, as an example.