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.

She was one of the best-known prime minister's wives, writing newspaper articles, making radio broadcasts, and giving open-air speeches.

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.

[1] Her father, a sawyer and talented musician, was born in Devon, England, and grew up in Cardiff, Wales, before immigrating to Australia at the age of 17.

[2] Her mother was born in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, to an English immigrant father who had drawn by the Victorian gold rush.

[3] Lyons' parents first met at Angellala on Queensland's western railway line, where her widowed maternal grandmother Louisa Taggett (née Orchard) had won a catering contract.

[9] Her mother supplemented the family's income by mending and laundering clothes and delivering meals to itinerant workers, taking a particular interest in well-educated visitors and those from overseas.

[12] They operated a small general store from their residence, with her mother serving as the local postmistress, and later added a dancehall which was rented out for community events.

[20] Her position as wife of the opposition leader gave her greater public prominence and beginning at the 1922 state election she began making appearances on his behalf.

[26] In July 1926, her husband was severely injured in a car accident that caused the death of his colleague Michael O'Keefe, remaining in hospital for nine weeks.

[37] In the absence of any parliamentary pension, the government under caretaker prime minister Earle Page immediately drafted legislation to provide annuities for her and the couple's seven dependent children.

There was some opposition from Joseph's political opponents who regarded the amount as excessive, and she was eventually awarded an annual grant of £500 (equivalent to $49,000 in 2022) with another £500 for the children's education through to the age of 16.

[44] Lyons campaigned in remote areas and also made frequent use of radio broadcasts, specialising in late-night talks she described as "bed-time stories".

[45] Despite a large nationwide swing against the UAP, she ultimately defeated the ALP candidate, future premier Eric Reece, with 51 percent of the two-party preferred vote.

The result took several weeks to finalise and she conceded defeat at one point, but emerged a clear winner when late votes from soldiers overseas were included.

[50] Lyons had a sometimes uneasy relationship with UAP leader Robert Menzies, disliking his domineering personality and what she perceived as past disloyalty to her husband.

[54] In her second term she became more combative in parliament, clashing with minister Arthur Calwell on several occasions and coming close to suspension in October 1947, following a conflict with ALP chairman of committees Joe Clark.

[57] Lyons again increased her majority at the election and was widely expected to be appointed to the ministry in the new government, with newspapers speculating she would be offered the immigration or social services portfolios.

[58] She was ultimately appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council, a largely honorary position that she described as "toothless", observing that "they only wanted me to pour the tea".

[17] Lyons was disappointed not to be offered a substantive ministerial portfolio and believed that Menzies "did not want her in the ministry but seemed to have been pressured into giving her some sort of spot".

[58] She did however acknowledge that her poor health would have limited her ministerial capabilities and that there was intense competition for cabinet positions following the Coalition's landslide victory.

[59] She continued to have poor health, requiring another surgery in 1950 for an ulcer on her nose that developed into skin cancer, and also experiencing side-effects from her thyroid medication.

Her contribution to cabinet discussions was limited, although she successfully lobbied for a woman to be appointed to the organising committee for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

[17] Menzies called a double dissolution shortly thereafter and she declined to re-contest her seat at the 1951 election, bringing an end to her parliamentary career.

She was a newspaper columnist (1951–54), a commissioner of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1951–62), and remained active in public life promoting family and women's issues.

[15] Jo Gullett in his autobiography discussed his fellow members of parliament and concluded that, "with hindsight, perhaps the wisest and most far-sighted of them all was a woman, Dame Enid Lyons."

[66] In March 2023, a dual bronze sculpture of Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tangney was placed in the gardens of Old Parliament House, Canberra.

The statues, sculpted by Lis Johnson, were inspired by an iconic photograph of the pair entering the building on their first day of parliament in September 1943.