NEW WOMAN MEMBER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23023, 28 April 1938, Page 4

NEW WOMAN MEMBER

DOCTOR WINS ELECTION PLANS FOR BUSY LIFE MEDICAL WORK AND POLITICS [FROM OUR OWN CORRICKPONDK.N'I] LONDON, April 9 After her exciting victory in the Fiilham by-election, Dr. Edith Summerskill, the new Labour M,P., was able to take her ease, while her husband answered the telephone every few seconds and her two children rushed for the postman and opened the hundreds of telegrams. "Everybody is asking me the same question about how 1 am going to manago to tako caro of my husband, children, house and medical practice now that I'm an M.P.," she said. "But I assure you that my husband is quite capable of taking care of himself, and the children have an excellent Scottish nurse, and all I myself need do is to readjust my working hours. "Patients who used to visit me in the afternoon will now come ill the morning. Some may have to be looked after by my partner, who happens to bo my husband. All this talk about women not being able to work as hard as men is absurd. Wo women are tougher than men, and Ave live longer. What we must learn is to organise our work and delegate it wherever possible." Not Delicate Creatures Her Welsh husband, Dr. Jeffrey Samuel, putting down the telephone receiver for more than the hundredth time, enthusiastically agreed with her. "It's time we ceased to believe in the myth that women are delicate creatures," he said. "The average working woman with no household conveniences puts as much strength into her daily work as a navvy. And she stands up to a supreme physical strain which no man ever undergoes—childbirth." Dr. Samuel is a warm supporter of equality between men and women. "1 did, however, refuse to give up my own name when we married!" lie added with a laugh. Parliamentary Precedent The position is that Dr. Summerskill will be the first married woman to sign the book under her maiden name whon she takes her seat in the House. But while she lias continued to use her maiden name for pofessional medical purposes, Dr. Summerskill has done so in politics almost by accident. Her first election campaign was at Putney in 1934, when she stood against Mr. M. R. A. Samuel. The Home Secretary was consulted, and to avoid confusion he advised that she should be nominated as Edith Summerskill. While Dr. Summerskill fought her campaign on domestic issues and expects to concentrate on measures which will reduce heavy household labour for women, she is also deeply interested in international affairs. The most exciting part of th«» election, she said, was the towing of her car by her supporters, with police on the running board, after the declaration.