Edith Summerskill : The Life and Times of a Pioneering Feminist Labour MP

Index 245 Contents vii Frontispiece Edith, aged thirty-three, standing as the Labour candidate for the Putney parliamentary by-election in November 1934. Edith Summerskill papers, LSE Library. 1 Edith canvassing workers in the Fulham Road when she was Labour candidate in the Fulham West by-election in April 1938. 2 Edith at a shooting range campaigning for women to join the Home Guard on the same terms as men during the Second World War. High on the list of those I wish to thank for helping me with Edith Summerskill is Jo Godfrey, former senior editor at I.B. Tauris who commissioned the book. Jo, who has now moved to Yale University Press, showed faith in me and supported the endeavour from the beginning. Without her encouragement, this biography would never have happened. Jo also kindly read my fi nal draft , making valuable suggestions for improvement. Many people supported me on the way. Th e staff at the LSE Women's Library were always helpful, making me welcome in the library and accessing the Edith Summerskill fi les without which I would not have been able to write this book. My thanks also goes to the People's History Museum in Manchester, with a special mention for the Archive Offi cer Darren Treadwell who enabled me to fi nd my way around oft en complex material. In addition to Jo Godfrey, my completed draft was read by Dr Alice Prochaska, former Principal of Somerville College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and my friend and colleague Patricia Erskine-Hill. Sincere thanks to both of them. Two people in particular who agreed to be interviewed for the biography provided insights I would not otherwise have had. Ben Summerskill, Edith's grandson, was especially helpful and talked freely to me about his grandmother and grandfather, Jeff rey Samuel. I am also indebted to Barbara Hosking who worked at Transport House, the headquarters of the Labour Party, when Edith was on the National Executive Committee. It would be remiss of me not to mention Professor Jane Ridley of Buckingham University. I attended some of Jane's biography MA course which gave me a strong basis from which to proceed with my own venture. Special thanks are also due to Tomasz Hoskins and Nayiri Kendir from Bloomsbury Publishers who took over the I.B. Tauris list when the companies merged. Tomasz and Nayiri prepared the book for publication and ironed out the last-minute details. I must also thank Olivia Dellow from I.B. Tauris for her support. 'Numbskull' , 'gorgon' and ' Amazonian' were just three insults she suff ered from male Labour Party so-called comrades. Edith was confi dent and outspoken. Even today, assertive women in professional and political life are still oft en regarded as aggressive, presumptuous, unfeminine and any number of hostile adjectives. Yet the very same words spoken by a woman when they come from the mouth of a man are viewed very diff erently. It is, I believe, important to recognize not only the valuable work Edith did, but also the risks she was prepared to take. It is hugely to her credit that she would risk all rather than give up on what she thought was right. One of the very few stories about Edith Summerskill which has gained any circulation was her stance on birth control, when she contested the parliamentary seat of Bury in Lancashire in the 1935 general election. Edith refused to be cowed by "Edith Summerskill was a remarkable politician, feminist, physician, campaigner and writer. At a time when there were few powerful women in public life, Dr Edith, as she was known, served in Clement Attlee's transformational post-war Labour government and oversaw the National Insurance scheme which solidified the welfare state in Britain. Here, the biographer Mary Honeyball, herself a Labour MEP, provides the first biography of this remarkable early pioneer for women in politics. Honeyball shows how Edith Summerskill' direct campaigning was instrumental in promoting women's causes throughout her life - focussing for example on her remarkable achievements in securing the equal rights of housewives and divorced women over property. This is a readable and entertaining account of a forgotten Labour hero"-- Provided by publisher An Independent Book of the Month Edith Summerskill was a remarkable politician, feminist, physician, campaigner and writer. At a time when there were few powerful women in public life, Dr Edith, as she was known, served in Clement Attlee's transformational post-war Labour government and oversaw the National Insurance scheme which solidified the welfare state in Britain. Here, Labour MEP Mary Honeyball, provides the first biography of this remarkable early pioneer for women in politics. Honeyball shows how Edith Summerskill's direct campaigning was instrumental in promoting women's causes throughout her life and lays out her remarkable achievements in securing the equal rights of housewives and divorced women over property. This is an uplifting and enlightening account of a forgotten Labour hero. Cover 1 Halftitle page 2 Frontispiece 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Plates 9 Abbreviations 11 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 16 1 Early Life 24 2 Apprenticeship 42 3 The House of Commons 68 4 The Second World War 92 5 Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Food 122 6 Promotion 146 7 Labour in Opposition 164 8 An Unstable World 194 9 The House of Lords 216 Notes 240 Bibliography 256 Index 260 Plates 282