Jenny Shipley of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers. Shipley led the National Party into the 1999 election, hoping to become the first woman to be elected prime minister in her own right. However, she was defeated by the Labour Party, also led by a woman, Helen Clark. This election was a significant moment in history for New Zealand as it was the first (and to date, only) New Zealand election in which the leaders of both major parties were women. Shipley served as the Leader of the Opposition until
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dutch ministers used to be responsible to the Monarch and the ministers were taking turns to fill the position of the Prime Minister who had little if any control over the other ministers. The Prime Minister's role gained importance when ministers became responsible to the parliament and the position became mostly reserved for the leader of the biggest political party in the House of Representatives. Still, because the position holds limited powers compared to other neighboring parliamentary democracies, the Prime Minister role is described as "primus inter pares" ("first among equals"). Following the constitutional review of 1983, the position of