Elizabeth McCombs was the first woman to win an election (to the seat held by her late husband, via widow's succession) in the . She was followed by Catherine Stewart (1938), Mary Dreaver (1941), Mary Grigg (1942), Mabel Howard (1943), and Hilda Ross (1945). Grigg and Ross represented the National Party, while McCombs, Stewart, Dreaver and Howard were all from the Labour Party. The first Maori woman MP was Iriaka Rātana in 1949; she also succeeded to the seat held by her late husband.