Dame Margaret Kerslake Shields (née Porter, 18 December 1941 – 29 May 2013) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. She had three terms in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the 1980s and was afterwards a member of the

Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for public transport under the brand Metlink, environ ...

, including as chairman.

Early life

Shields was born on 18 December 1941 in Wellington, and was educated at

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...

from 1955 to 1959. She campaigned for women's rights throughout her career. In 1966, she was one of a group of Wellington women (members of Newlands

Playcentre Playcentre is an early childhood education and parenting organisation which operates parent-led early childhood education centres throughout New Zealand and offers parents the opportunity to gain a Certificate in ''Early Childhood and Adult Educat ...

) who founded the Society for Research on Women (SROW). She was a founding member of the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) in 1975 which aimed to get more women into parliament and public offices. She worked at the Department of Statistics from 1973 to 1981, and served on the

Wellington Hospital Board Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

from 1977 to 1980. She was on the organising committee of the 1975 United Women's Convention, working alongside leading feminist organisers such as Sue Piper, Deidre Milne and Ros Noonan.

Political career

Shields first stood for Labour in the in the electorate, coming second to

Hugh Templeton Hugh Campbell Templeton (born 24 March 1929) is a former New Zealand diplomat, politician and member of parliament for the National Party. Early life and family Templeton was born in Wyndham, Southland, in 1929. He was educated at Gore Hig ...

. Shields had initially been declared the winner of the in the electorate, but she lost by 83 votes on a magisterial recount to

Barry Brill Barry Edward Brill (born 22 October 1940) is a New Zealand lawyer and ex-politician. Brill was parliamentary under-secretary for Energy, Science and Technology, Regional Development and National Development in the Third National Government from ...

. From the she represented the electorate in Parliament, but in the she was defeated by

Roger Sowry Roger Morrison Sowry (born 2 December 1958) is a former Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politician. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party, National Party, and was the deputy leader from 2001 to 2003. Early life Sowry was born in ...

; one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of the

Fourth Labour Government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda o ...

. In 1983 Shields was appointed as Labour's spokesperson for Science & Technology and Statistics by Labour leader

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

. She was Minister of Customs and Consumer Affairs from 1984 and the Minister of Women's Affairs from 1987 to 1990.

Post-parliamentary career

In 1990, she took up a position as director of INSTRAW, the

United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women The International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW ) was a subsidiary of the United Nations General Assembly. It was established upon recommendation of the World Conference on the International Women's Year 1 ...

, based in the Dominican Republic. She also held offices with the UN Development Fund for Women, the National Council of Women and the Federation of Graduate Women. In 1995, Shields was elected to the

. She became its deputy chairwoman in 1998, and was its first female chair from 2001 to 2004.

Honours

In 1993, Shields was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services, and later in the 2008 New Year Honours was appointed a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

. In the 2009 Special Honours, Shields accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion, following the reintroduction of titular honours by the government.

Death

Shields died in

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...

in 2013 and was survived by her husband Pat and one of her two daughters.Dame Margaret Shields dies aged 71
(3 June 2013). ''The New Zealand Herald''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Margaret Kerslake 1941 births 2013 deaths Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party MPs Women government ministers of New Zealand Companions of the Queen's Service Order People from Paraparaumu People educated at Wellington Girls' College Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Wellington Hospital Board members Wellington regional councillors Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election Women members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993