Personal details
Full Name:
- Elizabeth Reid McCombs
Lifetime:
- 19 Nov 1873–7 Jun 1935
Biography

Forty years after women in New Zealand received the right to vote, Elizabeth McCombs became the first female Member of Parliament.
Read more...Events In History
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13 September 1933New Zealand's first woman MP elected
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. Read more...
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6 December 1922Chatham Islanders vote in first election
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. Read more...
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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.