By Roselyn Fauth
Elizabeth McCombs declared first woman MP, 1933 Returning Officer J.J. McGahey formally announces Elizabeth Reid McCombs as the winner of the 1933 Lyttelton by-election, making her New Zealand’s first woman elected to Parliament.
After writing about Muriel Hilton, Timaru’s own trailblazing mayor and the first woman to lead a city in Aotearoa, I found myself wondering. Who else? Who else put themselves forward for public service when most doors were still closed to women? Who stood up, not just as the first, but as someone who helped others believe they could belong there too?
That wondering led me to Elizabeth McCombs. While she never lived in Timaru, what she did rippled across the whole country, including our region. In 1933, she became the first woman elected to the New Zealand Parliament, representing Lyttelton for the Labour Party. She crossed a threshold that had never been opened to women before. And then she got to work.
The Member of Parliament representing the Timaru electorate during 1933 was Clyde Carr, a member of the Labour Party. He was first elected in 1928, when he defeated the previous MP Frank Rolleston, and served continuously until 1962. His long tenure meant that while Elizabeth McCombs was making national history for Lyttelton in 1933, Timaru had its own Labour representation under a long-serving Labour MP.
There is a photo of Elizabeth taken around the time she entered politics. She looks composed, focused and capable. Not defiant. Not radical. Just ready and smiling, head slightly bowed revealing her long braided hair. By then, she already had a record of community service and political advocacy behind her. She had spent years campaigning for women’s rights, public health, education and workers’ protections. Often in partnership with her husband, James McCombs.
James had been MP for Lyttelton from 1913 and was a founding member of the Labour Party. Their marriage was one of shared purpose. She helped write speeches, organised campaigns and kept up with the political debates of the day. He addressed her in letters as “my dear girl”, not as a dismissal, but with warmth and deep respect for her intellect and convictions. When he died suddenly in 1933, the Labour Party nominated Elizabeth to stand in the by-election. Some saw it as a sentimental gesture. She proved it was not...
Elizabeth McCombs was elected in a landslide and became the first woman in our national Parliament. She stood up in a room of 79 men and delivered her maiden speech with clarity and conviction. One of her most quoted lines still gives me goosebumps: “Let us prove ourselves as good as any man, and better than some.”
Elizabeth McCombs declared first woman MP, 1933 Returning Officer J.J. McGahey formally announces Elizabeth Reid McCombs as the winner of the 1933 Lyttelton by-election, making her New Zealand’s first woman elected to Parliament. She comfortably won the seat, taking 6344 of the 10,288 eligible votes. Her closest rival, Frederick Willie Freeman, gained 3,675 votes McCombs secured 6,344 of the 10,288 votes cast, including 41 of 42 ballots from seamen. The result marked a milestone in New Zealand’s democratic history. Archives New Zealand, ADOR 17102 EL12 21 7/44/1 (R11288171) https://digitalnz.org/records/36236894
She went on to advocate for equal pay, welfare for women and children, better housing and education for all. These were not soft issues. They were systems work. Infrastructure for the wellbeing of future generations.
“There is no reason why a woman should not receive the same pay for the same work as a man. To argue otherwise is to argue against justice.”
She brought logic, research and principle into every speech. Her opponents may have underestimated her at first, but it quickly became clear she belonged in the room.
I wondered what the world she stepped into was like back then.
I can't image New Zealand in the early 1930s was an easy place to lead. The country was still recovering from the First World War. The 1918 influenza pandemic had devastated families. There was no universal health care. Families cared for wounded soldiers, ageing parents and sick children without the support that I think many of us sometimes take for granted. Then came the Great Depression, rising poverty and repeated polio outbreaks.
In the absence of national systems, communities had to rally. It was often women who organised meals, tended to neighbours and filled the gaps in care. We see in South Canterbury how voluntary groups of women, like the Womens Auxilary Group picked fruit, made jam and sold it, and ran second hand clothing stores to fund solutions for the community. Elizabeth was part of this era of movement. She would have heard all the problems, seen what needed changing, and have solutions ready, believing the role of government was to take responsibility.
She said, “Poverty is not the fault of the poor. It is the fault of a system that allows idleness at the top and starvation at the bottom.” This statement like many in her speeches were not about ideology. They were about people. She saw how hard women worked behind the scenes and fought for them to be seen, supported and valued.
Jean Garner. 'McCombs, Elizabeth Reid', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39421/elizabeth-mccombs-in-later-life (accessed 14 July 2025).
I Wonder How She Managed It All?
As a woman and a mother, I often wonder how people balance care, work and contribution. Elizabeth had two children. She kept a home. She was active in her community long before she stood for Parliament. There was no paid parental leave, no after-school programmes, no fancy shortcuts. Just a lot of expectation.
(Elizabeth's son Terry, followed in her footsteps as a Member of Parliament and Minister of Education. Her daughter Dale has less publicly recorded information about her life, as she did not enter public office, but she was known to be part of the family’s strong civic and social values.)
I wonder how she made time. I wonder how much invisible labour she carried alongside the public work. I wonder what it felt like to hold it all together when the country needed leaders but the world still assumed leadership meant being a man.
I imagine her evenings were filled with reading policy papers after the dishes were done. I imagine she sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea. Not thinking about glory. Thinking about how to make things better for working families, for women with no income, for children without safe housing.
I Also Wonder What Did It Cost Her?
Elizabeth McCombs was the only woman in a chamber of 79 men. Some dismissed her presence. Others assumed she was there simply because of her husband. She was told to focus on women’s issues, as if they were not part of the national picture.
She said, “Women have the right to be heard not only on matters that concern women, but on all matters that concern the nation.”
I wonder if it weighed on her. Did she come home feeling judged? Did she ever question herself? Or maybe she drew strength from the women who came to the gallery to watch her speak. Maybe she saw them and remembered why she was there.
Elizabeth McCombs died on 7 June 1935 at the age of 61. Her cause of death was attributed to ill health following a long battle with heart disease and diabetes. She died just two years into her term. But she opened a door that has never closed. Women have walked through it ever since. Not without struggle, but with her footsteps to follow.
How She Inspires Me
Looking at Elizabeth McCombs now, I no longer just see a “first”. I see a woman who spoke truth in a system that was not designed for her. I see someone who made time. Who stayed grounded. She makes me think about the civic roles women still take on. Often unpaid. Often under-acknowledged. Often while carrying family and community responsibilities at the same time. She reminds me that showing up is not always easy. We need to be brave sometimes becaues it matters.
She also makes me ask, who else is missing from the table? Who are we still overlooking? And how do we make sure the space she opened stays open? Because leadership is not always about status. It is about service. Elizabeth McCombs understood that. She carried the weight of being first not for the sake of herself, but for those who would come next.
How does this statement that she made make you feel?
“The disabilities of women are entirely man made.”
Written with gratitude to the archivists, librarians, local historians and educators who keep these stories alive. Inspired by the Harvard Tangible Things course and a desire to look more closely at the lives that shaped our collective future. Sometimes the object is a portrait. Sometimes it is a quote. Sometimes it is the act of bravely stepping forward when no one else yet has.
Political Roles and Public Office
Member of Parliament for Lyttelton (1933–1935)
First woman elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives
Christchurch City Councillor (1921 onwards)
One of the first women elected to the council
Labour Party Candidate for Kaiapoi (unsuccessful in 1928 election)
Among the earliest women endorsed as a parliamentary candidate by a major party
Community and Advocacy Organisations
National Council of Women of New Zealand
Active member advocating for women’s rights and social reform
Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
Promoted temperance, women’s suffrage and social welfare
Labour Women’s Organisation
Active in grassroots political organisation, policy discussion and campaign strategy
Christchurch Housewives' Union
Advocated for household economics, fair prices and family welfare
Christchurch Civic League
Promoted women’s participation in civic and political life
Canterbury Women’s Institute
Served as President, supporting rural and urban women’s education and leadership
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Supported pacifist and internationalist goals in the interwar years
Focus Areas and Public Campaigns
Equal pay for women
Spoke in Parliament and in public forums about wage justice
Widows’ pensions and child welfare
Advocated for state support for women raising children alone
Public health reform
Championed better access to health care and sanitation
Education access
Believed deeply in the power of education for working families
Housing and workers’ rights
Campaigned for better housing, wages and work conditions
Legacy Contributions
First woman to speak in the House of Representatives
Set the tone for respectful, principled engagement by women in Parliament
Helped normalise women's presence in national politics
Paved the way for future MPs such as Mabel Howard and Iriaka Rātana
Mother of MP Terry McCombs
Her son succeeded her in Lyttelton and became Minister of Education