NEW WOMEN M.P.'S.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1923, Page 10

NEW WOMEN M.P.'S.

PERSONALITIES SKETCHED DUCHESS AND SHOPGIRL. London, Dec. 8. The Duchess of Atholl is one of the five new women members of the House of Commons, who was elected as the Conservative candidate for Kinross lived on one of the largest properties m the United Kingdom. She was married in 1899, and is childless. A Socialist heckler was told by her that her property dwas so heavily mortgaged that she was compelled to live in a small cottage. She ig scholarly without looking too scholarly, is artistic, and lookg artistic. Of a bright, quick-thinking and witty personality she is an exceptional pianiat, and has a horror of being regarded as a feminist. Lady Terrington, Liberal, who topped the poll in Buckinghamshire, is 3o yeara old, looks 25, and possesses a girl’s enthusiasm. She is a good horsewoman, a keen motorist, and has a knowledge of dairy farming. A slow smile and a certain and unerring taste in dress, will attract more eyes to her in the House than to any other lady member. The first three women Labour members to bo elected are strong-minded. Miss Margaret Bondifield, who was successful at Northampton, is affectionately known at Northampton as “Our Maggie.” She is of early middle age and the sort of woman chosen for the homely mother’s part in the film drama, whose resource alone saves the family fortunes when everything has gone wrong. She started as a shop girl and l&ter became a Labour lecturer and organiser. Now she is president-elect of the Trades Union Congress, and will be the first woman to be president. Miss Susan Lawrence, who secured the East Ham seat, is of the type of inidVictorian quietness and gentility. She was converted to Labour in 1910 by the appalling condition of the London poor, and was elected to the London County Council. As an alderman of Poplar she developed a strong lighting character and a voice which can fill the largest hail. Miss Jewson, who was returned for Norwich, is the most prominent among the young Labour women. She graduated at Girton, and subsequently was a chambermaid in a big London hotel to learn how the staffs were treated. She condemned the food, the strain of long hours, and the lack of cleanliness. She was a militant suffragette, although she is entirely of docile appearance. Since 1916 she has been a trade union worker and is an expert handler of hecklers.