Muriel Edith Nichol JP (born 2 February 1893

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from Old ...

, Cheshire - died 28 May 1983

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

, Hertfordshire), née Wallhead, was a Labour Party politician in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Early life

The daughter of Richard Wallhead (

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

chairman 1920–1922 and MP for

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

1922–1934) was married with one son, and worked as a teacher before entering parliament. She served as Chair of

Urban District Council from 1937 to 1945.

Political career

At the 1935 general election, she stood unsuccessfully in the Bradford North constituency in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, losing by a wide margin to the sitting Conservative Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) Eugene Ramsden. In the Labour landslide at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

, she unseated Ramsden, winning the seat with a majority of 3,444 (a swing of 12.7%). After boundary changes for the 1950 general election, she lost her seat to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and National Liberal Party candidate, William Taylor. She was unsuccessful in seeking to return to Parliament for Stockport North in the 1955 general election.

References

UK General Elections since 1832
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External links

* 1893 births 1983 deaths British schoolteachers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 Politics of Bradford 20th-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub