WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT

Evening Star, Issue 21824, 13 September 1934, Page 11

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT

ORATORY AMD ATTIRE The part . played by the nation’s women legislators in the life of Parliament, both in and out of the debating chamber, is at once substantial and distinctive (says the London ‘ Daily Telegraph ’). According to the current issue of the ‘ Paliamentary Gazette,’ the * Hansard ’ columns (averaging 400 words each) spoken by women members from the commencement of the session in November last to Whitsuntide adjournment arc:— Name. Cols. Miss Rathbone 00 Duchess of Atholl 37 _ Viscountess Astor 32 Miss Horsburgh 30 Miss Ward 22 Totals below twenty columns are not recorded in the ‘ Gazette.’ The record of th number of oral questions asked also ends at twenty. This shows that Lady Astor put sixtynine questions, the Duchess of Atholl sixty, and .Miss Rathbone twenty-seven. The women do not appear in the record of non-oral questions. They are, however, well represented in the division list. There were 257 divisions, and they voted as follows; Mrs Runge 224 Mrs Shaw 208 Miss Horsburgh 194 Mrs Tate 183 Miss Ward 182 Miss Rathbone 136 Mias Gantlet 135 Mrs Ward 127 Miss Graves 121 Mrs Copeland - 112 Miss Megan Lloyd George 107 Totals under 100 are not recorded. There are fourteen _ women M.P.’s, and their attire provides one of the brightest features of the House, although summer has brought its coloured waistcoats to decorate the subfuse ranks. With representatives everywhere—except on the front benches, for which, for some reason yet unexplained, they seem to share a common aversion—they constitute islands of colour aiid variety which refresh the tired ' LADY ASTOR AS LEADER. Lady Astor is the accepted leader among the women. M.P.’s. She holds an unrivalled position in that respect. She was the first woman M.P. to take her seat. Lady Astor is nowadays much less certain in speech than she used to he. There is a desire to control an enthusiastic and knowledgable tongue, which often leads her into repeated false starts and animated phrases. She has lost none of her readiness for a fight, but has curbed a tendency to persistent interruption which at one time threatened to prejudice her parliamentary position. Her speeches sometimes sparkle with humour. _ Always beautifully dressed aud spirited in attitude, she is a striking figure when she addresses the House. The Duchess of Atholl is the only woman in the present House who has sat on the Treasury Bench. Much less %-olatile than Lady Astor. she has slipped a little from the public eye since she was Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education. Apart from the interests of Scotland, to which she pays consistent attention, more outside the Chamber than in it. she is a formidable adversary on all matters relating to the Soviet and India. Miss Eleanor Rathbone, as might be expected of the member for the. English Universities, also interests herself greatly in the less popular matters bnsinf in politics. She has an evident desire at all times to put her case wholly and fairly, and is far from having a partisan mind. Miss Rathbone is not an advocate of modern dress; she always gives the impression of au Edwardian fashion plate. . The Countess of Tveagh is one ol the most telling speakers in the House. Her contribution to the Prayer Book debate struck a high note, and made a profound impression. It revealed her wide intellectual gifts. It was classical in exactness, and her clear, musical voice enhanced a rare perfection of pi i rase. ... She rarely speaks nowadays. \i hen she does there is a rush to the Chamber, not only to bear her, but to see her, for she dresses beautifully, and always impresses with her grace and dignity. Miss Megan Lloyd George is the most diminutive figure among the fourteen, and probably the trimmest. Certainly she is the only one of them with any wit, and it is of the caustic kind. I have heard tier keep the House in roars of sustained laughter for many rnniutes. With a pleasant, well-trained voice and attractive manner, she has no difficulty in holding attention, particularly on agricultural topics, au interest which she inherits from her father. Indeed, her whole oratorical attitude is distinctly reminiscent of E.G. THE MOST MODERN. Among the new woman members Mrs M. C. Tate has attained a position of prominence. Her dress varies more than that of any other woman, and. generally speaking, she strikes the most modern note in the House. She has a small voice which carries well.

Mrs Tate also finds committee work not the least interesting of her Parliamentary duties. She is generally the last member out of the Chamber when “Who Goes Home?” is called. The most arresting ' speeches come from,Miss F. Horsbrugh, one of the members for Dundee. Deep and resonant, her words ring round the Commons better than those of many men, and she makes full use of her Scottish doggedness to make sure that the interests of her constituency receive full attention.

It was she who entertained the House on a.recent Private Members’ Day with an almost academic dissertation on various super-alcoholic beverages favoured in some Scottish districts. She gave “ Red Biddy ” a remarkable advertisement.

Miss Thelma Cazalet, the young member for Islington E., has spoken only rarely, but, nevertheless, she was greatly missed when she went out to India with Lord Eustace Percy’s Committee of Inquiry. Water diviner, world-wide traveller, linguist, educationist, and administrator, she has one of the best-informed minds in the House. She is a regular attendant, but too modestly hides herself in a far corner, taking little part in debate. Miss Irene Ward (the only blonde at the House), who sits for Wallsend, and Mrs S. A. Ward, the choice of Cannooks, are as unlike as possible. Miss Ward is the taller of the two with a deep sympathy for the sufferers from the industrial depression whom she knows so well hi the North of England. Mrs Ward, plump and generally wearing brown, is a practised speaker, who has frequently been cheered in the House for her eloquent advocacy of the interests of agriculturists. Mrs Ward shares with Miss F. M. Graves (Hackney, S.) a partiality for the coat and skirt as the most appropriate parliamentary dress for women, a fashion in which they follow the lead of Lady Astor, although they do not wear the black she invariably affects. Miss Graves is an export on foreign matters —she at one time served at the Foreign Office—and was congratulated by Sir John Simon and other leaders on a speech she made during a recent debate on disarmament. Mrs H. B. Shaw, who represents Bathweli. is distinguished by hair much more white than her age would seem to justify She also is of a retiring nature, and only intervenes when, a subject of which she has personal knowledge is under discussion. Her occasional speeches have the virtue of brevity. Mrs Ida Copeland represents Stoke, and is always eloquent when battling for the interests of the potteries. Mrs N. C. Range, who won Rothorhithe Division for the National Government after a dramatic contest, is a capable speaker. When she addresses the House on the tote and greyhound matters members listen with interest. She is an authority on these matters, “In fact,” she told the Assembly not long ago, “ as an owner I have had some victories with the dogs.”