Clark, Helen

born Feb. 26, 1950, Hamilton, N.Z.

New Zealand prime minister.

In 1999 she became the first woman in New Zealand to hold the office of prime minister immediately following an election. She received bachelor's (1971) and master's (1974) degrees in political science at the University of Auckland, where she taught from 1973 to 1981. Elected to Parliament in 1981, she held various cabinet portfolios beginning in 1987. She served as deputy prime minister in 1989–90 and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1990, both firsts for a woman in New Zealand. In 1993 she was elected head of the Labour Party, becoming the first woman in New Zealand to head a major party. In 1999, when the Labour Party was able to form a governing coalition, Clark was elected prime minister.

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▪ 2003

      New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark faced a big challenge when she called a general election for July 27, 2002. Clark's Labour Party was under pressure from both ends of the political spectrum, and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton resigned as head of the Alliance, the junior partner in the governing coalition, shortly before the election. When the ballots were counted, however, Labour had won 41.3% of the vote and 52 seats in the 120-seat House of Representatives, up slightly from 49 seats. Though this left Clark without an absolute majority, she quickly reached agreement with Anderton, whose new party, Progressive Coalition, took two seats, and the liberal United Future party (nine seats), to form a minority coalition government.

      Helen Elizabeth Clark was born in provincial Hamilton on Feb. 26, 1950, the oldest in a family of four girls growing up on a sheep and cattle farm in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. She was also an asthmatic and a homebound reader until her parents sent her to boarding school at Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland. She would later recall that the headmistress had told the boarders that they were country girls who would go back to where they came from—that educationally there was not much that could be done for them.

      Clark, however, went on to receive an M.A. with honours (1974) in political science at the University of Auckland. It was a time when left-wing politics were verging on the rampant, and Clark protested against the Vietnam War and against foreign military bases in New Zealand. She became a junior lecturer in political studies in 1973 and a senior lecturer from 1977 and wrote a Ph.D. thesis on rural politics. Clark joined the Labour Party in 1971 and became president of the Labour Youth Council. By the end of the decade she had risen to the party's executive committee, and in 1981 she was elected to Parliament for the left-leaning Mount Albert (Auckland) electorate. That same year she married Peter Davis, later a professor of public health.

      Clark joined the cabinet in 1987 and served as minister of conservation (1987–89), housing (1987–89), health (1989–90), and labour (1989–90). As health minister she gained a reputation for her unyielding antitobacco campaign. In 1989 she was the first woman elected deputy prime minister. When Labour was voted out of power in 1990, Clark became deputy to the leader of the opposition, Mike Moore. She succeeded him as Labour leader in a caucus uprising in December 1993.

      In the general election on Nov. 27, 1999, she confronted Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, who had been appointed to head the ruling National Party in 1997. In a big upset the Labour-Alliance coalition secured enough seats (59) to form a minority government, and Clark was sworn in on December 10 as New Zealand's first elected woman prime minister.

John A. Kelleher

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▪ prime minister of New Zealand

born February 26, 1950, Hamilton, New Zealand

 

 New Zealand politician who was prime minister (1999–2008). She was the first woman in New Zealand to hold the office of prime minister immediately following an election.

      Clark, the oldest of four children of George and Margaret Clark, grew up on a sheep and cattle farm in Te Pahu, west of Hamilton. She left home at age 12 to attend Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland. After graduation, she enrolled in the University of Auckland, where she received bachelor's (1971) and master's (1974) degrees in political science and taught from 1973 to 1981.

      Clark joined the Labour Party (New Zealand Labour Party) in 1971 and during the following decade held a variety of positions within the party. In parliamentary elections in 1975, she was selected as the Labour candidate for a seat that was considered safe for the conservative National Party (New Zealand National Party). Although she lost that election, she was elected to Parliament from a different constituency in 1981. As chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committee (1984–87), she played a major role in the country's adoption of an antinuclear policy, which effectively ended the ANZUS Pact and led to reduced military ties between New Zealand and the United States. In 1987 Clark became a member of the cabinet, holding at various times the portfolios of housing, conservation, labour, and health. In 1989–90 she served as deputy prime minister, and in 1990 she was appointed to the Privy Council, becoming the first woman in New Zealand to hold those offices.

      After the National Party's return to power in 1990, Clark became deputy leader of the opposition in Parliament. In 1993 she was elected head of the Labour Party (New Zealand Labour Party)—becoming the first woman in New Zealand to head a major party—and thus served as leader of the opposition. In 1999, when the Labour Party was able to form a governing coalition, Clark was elected prime minister. Holding the portfolio of arts and culture herself, she appointed an extraordinarily diverse cabinet, including 11 women and 4 Maori. As prime minister, Clark addressed many controversial issues, including Maori rights, same-sex civil unions, and prostitution, which was legalized in 2003. Her government also opposed the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq (see Iraq War). She was reelected prime minister in both 2002 and 2005, the first New Zealand prime minister to secure three consecutive terms in office. Amid an economic downturn, Clark's Labour Party was defeated by John Key (Key, John) and the National Party (New Zealand National Party) in the 2008 election. Clark subsequently stepped down as Labour leader.

      Throughout her career, Clark enjoyed a reputation as a skillful politician and a capable advocate of nuclear disarmament and public health policy. For her work on peace and disarmament, she was awarded the Peace Prize from the Danish Peace Foundation in 1986.

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