Enid Lyons

The Honourable Dame Enid Lyons AD GBE
Lyons in 1950
Vice-President of the Executive Council
In office 19 December 1949 – 7 March 1951
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
Preceded by	William Scully
Succeeded by	Robert Menzies
Member of the Australian Parliament for Darwin
In office 21 August 1943 – 19 March 1951
Preceded by	George Bell
Succeeded by	Aubrey Luck
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia
In office 6 January 1932 – 7 April 1939
Preceded by	Sarah Scullin
Succeeded by	Ethel Page
Personal details
Born	Enid Muriel Burnell (1897-07-09)9 July 1897 Smithton, Tasmania, Australia
Died	2 September 1981(1981-09-02) (aged 84) Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia
Resting place	Mersey Vale Memorial Park, Quoiba
Political party	Labor (until 1931) UAP (1931–1945) Liberal (after 1945)
Spouse	Joseph Lyons ​ (m. 1915⁠–⁠1939)​
Children	12, inc. Brendan and Kevin
Occupation	Teacher

Dame Enid Muriel Lyons AD, GBE (née Burnell; 9 July 1897 – 2 September 1981) was an Australian politician. She was notable as the being the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives and to serve in the federal cabinet. Prior to her own political career, she was best known as the wife of Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1932 to 1939, who served previously as Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.

Lyons was born in Smithton, Tasmania. She grew up in various small towns in northern Tasmania, and trained as a schoolteacher. At the age of 17, she married politician Joseph Lyons, who was almost 18 years her senior. They would have twelve children together, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. As her husband's career progressed, Lyons began assisting him in campaigning and developed a reputation as a talented public speaker. In 1925, she became one of the first two women to stand for the Labor Party at a Tasmanian state election. She followed her husband into the new United Australia Party (UAP) following the Labor split of 1931.

After her husband became prime minister in 1932, Lyons began living at The Lodge in Canberra. She was one of the best-known prime minister's wives, writing newspaper articles, making radio broadcasts, and giving open-air speeches. Her husband's sudden death in office in 1939 came as a great shock, and she withdrew from public life for a time. At the 1943 federal election, Lyons successfully stood for the UAP in the Division of Darwin. She and Senator (Dame) Dorothy Tangney became the first two women elected to federal parliament. Lyons joined the new Liberal Party in 1945, and served as Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Menzies Government from 1949 to 1951 – the first woman in cabinet. She retired from parliament after three terms, but remained involved in public life as a board member of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (1951–1962) and as a social commentator.