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Margaret Bondfield

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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.

Critics Review

Nan Sloane’s new biography of Margaret Bondfield illuminates the remarkable life of a woman who rose from unpromising beginnings to the Cabinet table. This enjoyable account of a real political pioneer reminds us of a woman who, though a national figure in her day, is almost unknown now, and restores her to her proper place in the political life of her times.
Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, Broadcaster and Political Commentator
A revelation. This definitive new biography acts as a vital corrective to the misconceptions and hearsay that have blighted the legacy and our historical memory of one of the Labour movement’s original trailblazers.
Harry Taylor, Labour Historian and Parliamentary Reporter
Nan Sloane’s excellent biography brings Britain’s first woman Cabinet Minister, Margaret Bondfield, to life with fine detail and a warm human touch. Bondfield has remained in the shadows for too long. She has now been given the recognition she so richly deserves. A must read for all those interested in Labour, and women’s, history.
Mary Honeyball, Research Fellow, Queen Mary University of London, UK

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