Mary Holt (31 July 1924 – 17 February 2021) was a British
Conservative politician and judge.
Early life
Holt was born in July 1924. She gained her degree, an MA
LLB
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...
with honours, from
Girton College, Cambridge.
Career
Holt was
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Preston North from 1970 to 1974, when she lost the seat in the
February election of that year to
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
's
Ronald Atkins (from whom she had won the seat in 1970). She was the first woman to hold the Preston North seat.
In Parliament, she was an advocate for the
Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973
Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...
, which allowed wives to have different addresses to their husbands.
Her attempt to regain the seat in the
October 1974 election was unsuccessful. From 1977 to 1995, Holt was a
circuit court judge.
Personal life
Holt never married. She died in
Fulwood, Preston in February 2021 at the age of 96, weeks after the death of her predecessor (and successor)
Ronald Atkins at 104.
References
External links
*
1924 births
2021 deaths
20th-century British women politicians
Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge
British women judges
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Lancashire
Politics of Preston
UK MPs 1970–1974
Place of birth missing
20th-century English women
20th-century English people
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