These were two Labour candidates Agatha Barbara and Evelyn Bonaci, while Anne Agius Ferrante from the PN obtained a seat following a by-election.
Since the granting of the right to vote, the Malta Labour Party (MLP) has consistently fielded women in all general elections, and has always (except during the 1992-96 legislature) had at least one female member of parliament over all years.
The overall number of women contesting under the MLP flag up to the 2003 election is 57, altogether winning 27 seats.
The ten female candidates, and the number of times they have been successful, are: The Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista, PN), on the other hand, fielded its first female candidate, Mary Louise Muscat Manduca, in 1950, but it was Anne Agius Ferrante, for the first time, successfully contested the 1976 elections under PN flag, and was elected in a by-election, It was not before 1987 that another PN female candidate made it to parliament - Giovanna Debono for Gozo.
Other political parties that had a female candidate in the general elections, were: Agatha Barbara won ten consecutive elections between 1947 and 1981 and held cabinet posts as Minister of Education twice and as Minister for Labour, Social Service and Culture.
In April 2003, Giovanna Debono was given the portfolio as Minister for Gozo, while Dolores Cristina was given the post of Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Social Policy.
In the 2004 reshuffle, with Dr. Lawrence Gonzi as Prime Minister, Giovanna Debono kept her previous portfolio, while Dolores Cristina was appointed Minister of the Family and Social Solidarity, and now Ministry for Education and Helen D'Amato was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health.