Story: Labour Party

Five women members of Parliament

Five smiling women grouped together looking at camera

Five of the six female MPs in the 1981 Labour caucus are shown here. They are (left to right) Margaret Shields (MP for Kāpiti), Mary Batchelor (Avon), Whetū Tirikātene-Sullivan (Southern Māori), Fran Wilde (Wellington Central) and Ann Hercus (Lyttelton). The sixth Labour woman MP in this period was Helen Clark, elected MP for Mt Albert in 1981.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP/1981/3920

Photograph by Ian Mackley

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Peter Aimer, Labour Party – Māori and women in the Labour Party, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/34055/five-women-members-of-parliament (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Peter Aimer, published 31 October 2011, updated 1 January 2023.