[1][2] New Zealand women gained the right to vote in 1893, though were not allowed to stand for the House of Representatives until the election of 1919.

[3] McCombs became interested in socialism through the influence of her elder sisters, who were involved in the Progressive Liberal Association, a small socialist-orientated group.

James McCombs was active in left-wing political circles, and was later to become an MP for the Social Democratic Party.

At the same time, Elizabeth McCombs was elected to the party's executive,[3] alongside another woman, Sarah Snow.

[3] In the 1928 elections, McCombs stood (unsuccessfully) for the Kaiapoi electorate, as the Labour Party's first female nominee.

[3] Among the causes she promoted were: In a 1926 article in Christchurch newspaper The Press, McCombs was described as being "impatient with working people, tending to represent their best interests and not necessarily their opinions.

In her Lyttelton electorate, she was succeeded by her son Terry McCombs,[7] who was the Minister of Education in the First Labour Government from 1947 to 1949.