and her then-University of Auckland colleague Helen Clark encouraged her candidacy. In the 1980s, Wilson was a senior figure in the extra-parliamentary Labour Party. She was elected as a women's representative on the Labour Party Council for two one-year terms in 1980 and 1981 and to the vice-presidency in 1982. From 1984 to 1987, she was president of the Labour Party, the first woman to do so. She contributed to the party's manifesto commitments on women's equality, which included the establishment of the Ministry for Women's Affairs, for the 1984 general election. It was suggested that Wilson stand for Parliament in 1987; she declined. Following her term as Labour president, she chaired the government's working group on equal employment opportunities and equal pay, served on the Law Commission, and was appointed as a director of the Reserve Bank. Between 1989 and 1990, she worked as chief political advisor to the Prime Minister, Geoffrey Palmer. Wilson established the University of Waikato School of Law as New Zealand's fifth law school in 1990. She was its first Professor of law and founding Dean until 1999 when she became a Member of Parliament. Wilson was the first female Dean of a law school in New Zealand. In 1993, Wilson was awarded the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal. Member of Parliament After nine years of a National-led Government, including three years of testing coalition arrangements, Labour anticipated forming a government after the 1999 election. Wilson's former Auckland University colleague Helen Clark, now leader of the Labour Party, invited Wilson to stand for election on the Labour Party list, with a view to being the Attorney-General should Labour successfully form a new government. Wilson agreed and also stood for election in Tauranga where she placed third behind New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and National candidate Katherine O'Regan. As the ninth candidate on the Labour list, Wilson entered Parliament as a list MP and immediately gained election to the Cabinet. In addition to being appointed Attorney-General, she was additionally made Minister of Labour, Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, and associate minister for justice and state services. In the justice portfolio, she had delegated responsibility for constitutional and electoral policy, human rights, privacy and the Māori–Crown relationship. Across her portfolios, Wilson had a strong focus on women's equality. She established the position of Equal Employment Opportunities commissioner at the Human Rights Commission and