Jennie Adamson

Janet Laurel Adamson (née Johnston;[1] 9 May 1882 – 25 April 1962) was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1938 to 1946, and as a junior minister in Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government.

Janet Laurel Adamson
Member of Parliament
for Bexley
In office
5 July 1945  21 July 1946
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byAshley Bramall
Member of Parliament
for Dartford
In office
7 November 1938  15 June 1945
Preceded byFrank Edward Clarke
Succeeded byNorman Dodds
Chair of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party
In office
1935–1936
Preceded byWilliam Albert Robinson
Succeeded byHugh Dalton
Member of London County Council
for Lambeth North
In office
8 March 1928  5 March 1931
Preceded byRichard Charles Powell
Succeeded byIda Samuel
Personal details
Born
Janet Laurel Johnston

(1882-05-09)9 May 1882
Kilmarnock, Scotland
Died25 April 1962(1962-04-25) (aged 79)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
SpouseWilliam Murdoch Adamson (died 1945)

Early life and family

Janet Laurel Johnston was born on 9 May 1882, the daughter of Thomas Johnston of Kirkcudbright. She married, in 1902, to William Murdoch Adamson, a Transport and General Workers' Union official who became Labour MP for Cannock.[1][2]

Political career

From 1928 to 1931, Adamson was a member of London County Council for Lambeth North. She served on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party from 1927 to 1947, which she chaired from 1935 to 1936.[1][2]

Adamson unsuccessfully contested Dartford at the 1935 general election, when the sitting Conservative MP Frank Clarke held the seat with a significantly reduced majority.[3] However, Clarke died in July 1938, and at the resulting by-election in November 1938, Adamson won the seat on a swing of 4.2%.[3] With her husband, she became the only husband and wife in the House of Commons.[4]

The constituency was divided in boundary changes for the 1945 general election, when Adamson was elected with a large majority (27% of the votes) for the new Bexley constituency.[5] She served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary from 1940 to 1945 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions from 1945 to 1946,[1] under minister Wilfred Paling.

Adamson resigned from Parliament in 1946, becoming Deputy Chair of the Unemployment Assistance Board from 1946 to 1953.[1] Her resignation precipitated a by-election in July 1946 which was narrowly won by the Labour candidate Ashley Bramall.[5] At the next general election, in 1950, the seat was won by future Prime Minister Edward Heath.

Adamson died on 25 April 1962.[6]

References

Citations

  1. "Jennie Adamson". Observatory. Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen's University Belfast. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. Stenton and Lees Who's Who of British Members of Parliament vol. iv p. 1
  3. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 383. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. "LABOUR GAINS". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 November 1938. p. 17. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2017 via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  5. Craig, op cit, page 76
  6. Stenton and Lees Who's Who of British Members of Parliament vol. iv p. 2

Bibliography

  • Stenton, M., Lees, S. (1981). Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, volume iv (covering 1945-1979). Sussex: The Harvester Press; New Jersey: Humanities Press. ISBN 0-391-01087-5
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