Campbell was educated at the University of British Columbia (B.A., 1969) and at the London School of Economics. She taught political science for six years before returning to the University of British Columbia to pursue a law degree; upon graduation in 1983 she practiced law in Vancouver for two years before devoting herself full-time to a political career.
Campbell ran unsuccessfully as a candidate of the Social Credit Party for the British Columbia provincial legislature in 1983 and in May 1986 was defeated in a bid for the Social Credit provincial leadership. In October 1986, however, she won a seat in the provincial legislature as the Social Credit member for a Vancouver riding. Two years later, she switched parties and was elected to the federal parliament as a Progressive Conservative. Then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed her minister for Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1989. In 1990 she became justice minister and attorney general; her tenure was marked by several legislative successes, including strengthening Canada's gun-control laws and passing a tough rape law. Her appointment as defense minister in January 1993 was seen as a signal of Mulroney's confidence in her political future, especially when he announced his own retirement shortly thereafter. Campbell was selected by a party convention to replace Mulroney and became Canada's first woman and first West Coast prime minister, in June 1993. She left office in November of that year, after the Progressive Conservative Party suffered a major electoral defeat. In December 1993 she resigned as party leader.
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