Margaret Bondfield
The Life and Times of Britain’s First Female Cabinet Minister
Margaret Bondfield
The Life and Times of Britain’s First Female Cabinet Minister
Description
A groundbreaking biography of Margaret Bondfield, the remarkable political pioneer and working-class woman who rose to become the first female Cabinet Minister in the 1929 Labour government.
Rising from modest semi-rural, semi-industrial origins in the West Country, and years of apprenticeship in shops in Brighton, Bondfield became the first woman to chair the TUC, one of the first female Labour MPs, the first woman to hold government office (1924) and in 1929, the first female Cabinet Minister.
Most of her life was lived in the public eye, but what lay behind her public achievements? In this remarkable book, historian Nan Sloane looks beyond the public façade to reveal Bondfield's hidden personal story, from her complicated personality with a difficult background, a private life which was either secret or non-existent, and a lifelong struggle with imposter syndrome.
Drawing on newly uncovered archival material, including Bondfield's own diaries, this is a fresh and vitally needed reassessment of Margaret Bondfield's influential life and contribution. A vital and timely biography that restores Bondfield to her rightful and prominent place in British political history.
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Abbreviations
1. Introduction: A Niche in History
2. We Were Not Given to Tears
3. Eager, Attractive and Vivacious
4. The Right Thing to Do
5. Organise and Educate!
6. Not Sex, But Class
7. They Want to See Something Done
8. Bread and Roses
9. The End is Not Yet
10. Events Beyond Control
11. Isn't It Glorious!
12. Are You Really Going to Russia?
13. An Unprecedented Double
14. A Strange Adventure
15. That Detestable Affair
16. Some Woman Was Bound to be First
17. I Had Not Stopped Growing
18. Epilogue: This Remarkable Woman
Bibliography
References
Index
Product details
| Published | 19 Feb 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 248 |
| ISBN | 9781350513655 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | 234 x 156 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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