Ellen Louks Fairclough PC CC OOnt (née Cook;[1] January 28, 1905 – November 13, 2004) was a Canadian politician.

A Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1950 to 1963, she was the first woman ever to serve in the Canadian Cabinet.

[2] When Gibson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario the following year, however, Fairclough ran in and won the resulting by-election.

[2] Fairclough was also named as Acting Prime Minister of Canada from February 19 to 20, 1958;[6] she was the first woman ever given the duty.

In 1982, the Ontario government office tower on the corner of MacNab and King Streets in Hamilton was officially named the Ellen Fairclough Building.

In recognition of her status as a pioneering woman in Canadian politics, she was granted the rare honour of having the title Right Honourable bestowed upon her in 1992 by Queen Elizabeth II,[2] one of very few Canadians to have the title who had not been Prime Minister, Governor General or Chief Justice.