This is a list of political offices which have been held by a woman, with details of the first woman holder of each office. It is ordered by the countries in North and Central American and the Caribbean and by dates of appointment. Please observe that this list is meant to contain only the first woman to hold of a political office, and not all the female holders of that office.
The first female governor in North America and the Americas overall was Beatriz de la Cuevaappointed in 1541, when Central America was part of Spain.
Anguilla
Minister of Social Services – Albena Lake-Hodge – 1976 Governor – Christina Scott – 2013 Premier – Cora Richardson-Hodge – 2025
Antigua and Barbuda
Parliamentary Secretary of Women's Affairs – Gwendolyn Tonge – 1994 Member (Cabinet) - Gertel Thom - 2001 Governor-General – Dame Louise Lake-Tack – 2007
Aruba
Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague – Ella Tromp-Yarzagaray – 1991 Minister of Finance – Ella Tromp-Yarzagaray – 1993 President of Parliament – Mervin Wyatt-Ras – 2005 Prime Minister – Evelyn Wever-Croes – 2017
The Bahamas
Minister of Transport – Doris Louise Johnson – 1969 Foreign minister – Janet Bostwick – 1994 Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs - Janet Bostwick - 1995 Governor-General – Dame Ivy Dumont – 2001 Prime Minister (acting) – Cynthia Pratt – 2005
Barbados
Minister of Parliament (House of Assembly) – Dame Edna ("Ermie") Bourne – 1951 Health minister – Billie Miller – 1976 Governor-General – Dame Nita Barrow – 1990COLLECTIONS & LIBRARIES: Their Excellencies, Cave Hill Campus Library, University of the West Indies. Foreign minister – Dame Billie Miller – 1994 Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs – Mia Mottley – 2001 Leader of the Opposition – Mia Mottley – 2008 President of the Senate – Sen. Kerry-Ann Ifill – First woman and blind person – 2012 Prime Minister – Mia Mottley – 2018 President – Sandra Mason – Inaugural President– 2021
Belize
Minister of Education and Housing and Social Service – Gwendolyn Lizarraga – 1965 Governor-General – Dame Minita Gordon – 1981 Ambassador of Belize to the U.S. - Lisa Shoman – 2000 Mayor of Belize City – Zenaida Moya – 2006 Foreign minister – Lisa Shoman – 2007 President of Senate – Andrea Gill – 2008
Bermuda
Minister of Health and Social Affairs – Gloria Juanita McPhee – 1968 Premier – Pamela F. Gordon – 1997 Governor – Rena Lalgie – 2020
British Virgin Islands
Attorney General – Paula F. Beaubrun – 1971 House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands Members – Ethlyn Smith and Eileene L. Parsons – 1995 Speaker of the House of Assembly – V. Inez Archibald – 2003Guide 2 Woman Leaders Governor (acting) – Dancia Penn – 2006 Cabinet Secretary – Sandra Ward – 2012
Canada
=== National level === Monarch – Queen Victoria – 1867 Cabinet minister – Ellen Fairclough – 1958 Governor General – Jeanne Sauvé – 1984 Prime Minister – Kim Campbell – 1993 Deputy Prime Minister of Canada – Sheila Copps – 1993
Legislature
Member of a provincial legislature – Louise McKinney (Alberta) – 1917 (first female legislator in the British Empire) Member of Parliament – Agnes Macphail – 1921 Senator – Cairine Wilson – 1930 Speaker of the Senate of Canada – Muriel McQueen Fergusson – 1972 Speaker of the House – Jeanne Sauvé – 1980 Leader of the Government in the Senate – Joyce Fairbairn – 1993
Political parties
Leader of a political party at the provincial level – Thérèse Casgrain (Parti social démocratique du Québec) – 1951 Candidate for the leadership of a federal political party – Mary Walker-Sawka – 1967Sylvia Bashevkin, Opening Doors Wider: Women's Political Engagement in Canada. UBC Press, 2010. . Leader of a political party which won an election – Hilda Watson – 1978Watson led the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party into the territory's first-ever partisan legislative election; although her party won the election, Watson failed to win her own seat and thus did not become government leader. Leader of a political party with seats in a provincial legislature – Alexa McDonough (Nova Scotia New Democratic Party) – 1980 Leader of a political party at the federal level – Kathryn Cholette (Green) – 1988 Leader of a political party with representation in the House of Commons – Audrey McLaughlin (NDP) – 1989 Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons – Deborah Grey – 2000 Leader of the Opposition in the Senate – Céline Hervieux-Payette – 2007
Individual ministries or regions
City councillor and first woman elected to any political office in Canada – Hannah Gale – 1917 Mayor – Barbara Hanley, Webbwood, Ontario – 1936 Secretary of State for External Affairs – Flora MacDonald – 1979 Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada - Kim Campbell - 1990-1993 Premier of a territory – Nellie Cournoyea (NWT) – 1991 Premier of a province – Rita Johnston (BC) – 1991Johnston became premier by winning the leadership of the governing party, but lost the subsequent election. Callbeck was the first female premier to win the office via her party winning a general election. Premier of a province in a general election – Catherine Callbeck (PEI) – 1993
Ontario
Federal Member of Parliament – Agnes Macphail – 1921 Member of Provincial Parliament – Agnes Macphail and Rae Luckock – 1943 Deputy Premier – Bette Stephenson – 1985 Mayor of Toronto – June Rowlands – 1991 Leader of a political party – Lyn McLeod – 1992 Leader of the Opposition – Lyn McLeod – 1992 Premier of Ontario – Kathleen Wynne – 2013 Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – Donna Skelly – 2025
Manitoba
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Edith Rogers – 1920 Winnipeg City Councillor – Jessie Kirk – 1920 Federal Member of Parliament – Margaret Konantz (Rogers' daughter) – 1963 Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – Thelma Forbes – 1963 Member of the Executive Council – Thelma Forbes – 1966 First Nations band chief – Jean Folster (as Chief of Norway House Cree Nation) – 1971 Deputy Premier – Muriel Smith – 1971 Lieutenant Governor – Pearl McGonigal – 1981 Leader of a political party – Sharon Carstairs – 1984 Leader of the Opposition – Sharon Carstairs – 1988 Mayor of Winnipeg – Susan Thompson – 1992
Saskatchewan
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Sarah Ramsland – 1919 Federal Member of Parliament – Dorise Nielsen – 1940 Leader of a political party – Lynda Haverstock – 1989
New Brunswick
Federal Member of Parliament – Margaret Rideout – 1964 Member of the Legislative Assembly – Brenda Robertson – 1967 Cabinet minister – Brenda Robertson – 1970 Leader of a political party – Elizabeth Weir and Barbara Baird – 1989David Keith Adams, Britain and Canada in the 1990s: proceedings of a UK/Canada colloquium. Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1992. p. 23. Premier of New Brunswick - Susan Holt - 2024
Quebec
Leader of a political party – Thérèse Casgrain – 1951 Member of the National Assembly – Marie-Claire Kirkland – 1961 Federal Member of Parliament – Monique Bégin, Albanie Morin and Jeanne Sauvé – 1972 Leader of the Opposition – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay – 1998 President of the National Assembly – Louise Harel – 2002 Mayor of Quebec City – Andrée Boucher – 2005 Leader of a political party with representation in the legislature – Pauline Marois – 2007 Premier – Pauline Marois – 2012 Elected Mayor of Montreal – Valérie Plante – 2017
Alberta
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Louise McKinney and Roberta MacAdams – 1917 Federal Member of Parliament – Cora Taylor Casselman – 1941 Mayor of Edmonton – Janice Rhea Reimer – 1989 Leader of a political party – Pam Barrett – 1996 Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly – Nancy MacBeth – 1998 Premier of Alberta – Allison Redford – 2011
Nova Scotia
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Gladys Porter – 1960 Federal Member of Parliament – Coline Campbell – 1974 Leader of a political party – Alexa McDonough – 1980
British Columbia
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Mary Ellen Smith – 1918 Cabinet minister – Mary Ellen Smith – 1921 Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – Mary Ellen Smith – 1928 Federal Member of Parliament – Pauline Jewett – 1963 Leader of a political party – Rita Johnston – 1991 Premier – Rita Johnston – 1991 Leader of the Opposition – Joy MacPhail – 2001
Prince Edward Island
Candidate for the Legislative Assembly – Hilda Ramsay – 1951 Federal Member of Parliament – Margaret Mary Macdonald – 1961 Member of the Legislative Assembly – Jean Canfield – 1970 Cabinet minister – Jean Canfield – 1972 Leader of a political party – Pat Mella – 1990 Premier – Catherine Callbeck – 1993
Newfoundland and Labrador
Member of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland (pre-Confederation) – Helena Squires – 1930 Member of the House of Assembly (post-Confederation) – Hazel McIsaac – 1975 Cabinet ministers – Lynn Verge and Hazel Newhook – 1979 Federal Member of Parliament – Jean Payne and Bonnie Hickey – 1993 Leader of a political party – Lynn Verge – 1995 Premier – Kathy Dunderdale – 2010
Yukon
Federal Member of Parliament – Martha Black – 1935 Member of the Legislative Assembly – G. Jean Gordon – 1967 Leader of a political party – Hilda Watson – 1978 Premier – Pat Duncan – 2000 Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – Patti McLeod – 2016David Laxton resigns as Yukon Speaker, Patti McLeod takes over. CBC North, May 10, 2016
Northwest Territories
Member of the Legislative Assembly – Lena Pedersen (Pederson) – 1970 Federal Member of Parliament – Ethel Blondin-Andrew – 1988 Premier – Nellie Cournoyea – 1991
Nunavut
Federal Member of Parliament – Nancy Karetak-Lindell – 1999 Member of the Legislative Assembly – Manitok Thompson – 1999 Premier – Eva Aariak – 2008"Nunavut names new premier" , The Globe and Mail, November 14, 2008.
Cayman Islands
Speaker of the National Assembly - Sybil McLaughlin - 1991 Minister of Education – Sybil McLaughlin – 1996 Premier – Julianna O'Connor-Connolly – 2012 Governor – Helen Kilpatrick – 2013
Costa Rica
Minister of Education – Estela Hernández Quezada de Niño – 1958 Interior minister – Janina del Vecchio Ugalde – 2008 President – Laura Chinchilla – 2010 Minister of Justice - Cecilia Sánchez Romero - 2017
Cuba Minister without Portfolio – María Gómez Carbonell – 1942 Minister of Education – Zolia Mulet y Proenza – 1954
Curaçao
Commissioner of Health – Maria Liberia-Peters – 1977 Deputy Governor – Maria Liberia-Peters – 1982 Governor (acting) – Adèle van der Pluijm-Vrede – 2012 Governor – Lucille George-Wout – 2013
Dominica
National level Minister of Labour and Social Affairs – Phyllis Shand Allfrey – 1958 Prime Minister – Dame Eugenia Charles – 1980
Individual ministries Minister of Communications & Works – Mabel Moir James – 1966 Minister of Home Affairs – Mabel Moir James – 1970 Foreign minister – Dame Eugenia Charles – 1980 Defence minister – Dame Eugenia Charles – 1985 Minister for Health and Social Security – Doreen Paul – 1995 Minister for Community Development, Women's Affairs and Culture – Gertrude Roberts – 1995 Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism with responsibility for festivals/ Minister for Community Development, Gender Affairs, Information and Culture – Loreen Bannis-Roberts – 2005 Minister for Education, Youth Affairs, Human Resource Development and Sports – Sonia Williams – 2008 Minister for Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports – Justina Charles – 2010 Minister for Social Services, Community Development and Gender Affairs – Gloria Shillingford – 2010
Dominican Republic
Secretary of State for Education, Culture and Public Worship – Lilia Portalatín Sosa – 1964 Secretary of State for Labour – Altagracia Bautista de Suárez – 1966 Secretary of State for Industry and Trade – Altagracia Bautista de Suárez – 1970 Subsecretary of State for External Relations – Licelott Marte de Barrios – 1973
El Salvador