Edith Wills

Edith Wills
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Duddeston
In office
5 July 1945  22 February 1950
Prime Minister Clement Attlee
Preceded by Oliver Simmonds
Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born Edith Agnes Wood
(1892-11-21)21 November 1892
Died 7 April 1970(1970-04-07) (aged 77)
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Frank Wills
Children One son

Edith Agnes Wills (21 November 1892 – 7 April 1970) was a Labour and Co-operative politician in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Wills was the daughter of John Wood and Henrietta Hook. In 1921, she married Frank Wills, and had one son. She was active in the co-operative movement and is remembered as teaching youth classes for the Birmingham Co-operative Society.[1]

Career

Edith Wills was elected to Birmingham City Council in 1930 and served until 1946. She became a magistrate in the city in 1934 and served on a number of charity boards and other organisations.[2]

Wills was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Duddeston in Labour's landslide victory of 1945, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. Wills was the first woman to serve as an MP for the city, and held the seat until 1950, when it was abolished by boundary changes.

Wills returned to the City Council in 1956 in a by-election for the Deritend ward.

References

  1. Vickerage, Harry M (1950). Seventy-five Years of Co-operative Endeavour. CWS. p. 71.
  2. The Birmingham Post Year Book 1967-1968. The Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. 1967. p. 1015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Oliver Simmonds
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Duddeston
19451950
Constituency abolished
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.