By Oonagh Gay and Isobel White. Follows Norah Runge MP: An exceptional woman and Norah Runge: Becoming an MP, 1931-1932 Throughout a period of rising political tensions both at home and abroad, Norah is present at key debates in the Commons and … Continue reading Norah Runge: Rotherhithe, national politics and family crises, 1933 -1935
By Oonagh Gay and Isobel White. Follows Norah Runge MP: An exceptional woman Norah Runge became the Conservative MP for Rotherhithe rather unexpectedly in 1931 after the male candidate, Captain Husey, stood down. Norah kept a diary, not just of her … Continue reading Norah Runge: Becoming an MP, 1931-1932
Today is the birthday of Norah Runge (27 September 1884 – 6 June 1978), an unsung interwar woman MP. To mark the occasion we are delighted to publish this guest post by Vote 100 volunteers Oonagh Gay and Isobel White. Who … Continue reading Norah Runge MP: An exceptional woman
Guest post by Dr Julie V. Gottlieb (University of Sheffield) It is truly remarkable how so many organisations, institutions, media outlets and individuals have been coming together to mark the centenary of (partial) women’s suffrage. This promises to be a … Continue reading ‘Shy Women Tories’ in the History of Suffrage and Beyond
Guest post by Oonagh Gay On 1 May 1997 120 women MPs were elected; exactly double the number elected in 1992 and representing 18.2 per cent of all MPs, 71 of these MPs were new. For House of Commons Library staff, suddenly, it was no longer a rarity to meet a woman MP. Previously, it was possible to recognise each woman MP and name their constituency without much difficulty. Suddenly there was a host of younger, unfamiliar, female faces to process. 101 of those 120 women elected were Labour, reflecting the landslide majority achieved by their Party, and the positive … Continue reading When meeting a new woman MP was no longer a rarity for us staff! Recollections of the impact of the May 1997 election
‘The lady Liberal agent’: Bertha Fischer (1875-1920) and Ellen Pocock (1854-1943) Guest post by Kathryn Rix In July 1902 the ‘Ladies’ Column’ of the Dundee Evening Telegraph ran an article on ‘Novel professions for women’, featuring ‘The lady Liberal agent’, Bertha Bowness Fischer. She had recently passed the professional examination held by the Society of Certificated and Associated Liberal Agents (SCALA), becoming the first woman to qualify as a Fellow of that body. Given that women were excluded from the parliamentary franchise until 1918, and from the comparable profession of solicitor until after 1919, it is rather surprising to find … Continue reading ‘The lady Liberal agent’
