Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith, (17 March 1914 – 3 July 1985) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Early life and education

Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith was born 17 March 1914 in

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

, the second child and only daughter of shopkeeper Frederick Charles Hornsby-Smith, a saddle dealer and

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

umbrella maker, and his wife, Ellen (née Minter). She was educated at the local

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, and at

Richmond County School for Girls Richmond County School for Girls (sometimes referred to as ''Richmond Grammar School for Girls'') was a school at Richmond in London that was once noted for having cricket in its curriculum; which resulted in the emergence from the school of a n ...

. After leaving school she worked as a private secretary for several firms and for an employers' federation. Her interest in politics was established early and she joined the

Junior Imperial League The Young Conservatives (YC) is the youth wing of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom for members aged 25 and under. The organisation shares the same values and policies as its parent political party with branches being an integrated part ...

at the age of sixteen. The following year she was invited to join the Conservative Party's supporting team of speakers for the 1931 election campaign. During the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

she undertook voluntary work. In 1941 she took a job in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

Principal Private Secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

Lord Selborne Earl of Selborne, in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1882 for the lawyer and Liberal politician Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Wo ...

, the minister of economic warfare, a post she held until the end of the war.

Political career

Her political career took off after the war. She was elected for a term on Barnes council where she served from 1945 – 1949. At the 1950 general election, she was elected as

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 of ...

for

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

, winning a majority of only 167 votes over the sitting

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 ...

MP,

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

. She was re-elected at the next four general elections (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

), served as Parliamentary Secretary 1951 – 1957 and was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...

in 1959. In 1964 she presented the Nurses Act to Parliament. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(DBE) in September 1961. At the 1966 election, she lost her seat to Labour's

Alistair Macdonald Alistair Huistean Macdonald (18 May 1925 – 6 February 1999) was a British Labour Party politician. Macdonald was educated at Dulwich College, Enfield Technical College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was a bank clerk and area trea ...

, by a majority of only 810. Four years later, at the 1970 election, she regained the seat with a majority of 3363. Constituency boundary changes implemented in the February 1974 general election encouraged Hornsby-Smith to allow

Roger Sims Sir Roger Edward Sims (born 27 January 1930) is a British Conservative politician. Early life and education Sims was born the son of Herbert William Sims and Annie Amy Savidge. He was educated at City Boys' Grammar School in Leicester, and St ...

to stand for Chislehurst, and to compete instead for the new constituency of

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

. However,

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

also selected to run for Sidcup so Hornsby-Smith stood in another new seat; Aldridge-Brownhills. She lost to the Labour candidate

Geoff Edge Geoffrey Edge (born 26 May 1943) is a former British Labour Party politician. Biography Geoffrey Edge was born in West Bromwich. He was educated at the London School of Economics, from which he received a BA in Geography, and the University ...

by just 366 votes. Hornsby-Smith was subsequently elevated to a life peerage on 13 May 1974 as Baroness Hornsby-Smith, of Chislehurst in the County of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Death and memorial

Patricia Hornsby-Smith died on 3 July 1985 in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. Her funeral was held at

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many centu ...

five days later. A memorial service was held on 29 October 1985 at

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...

. Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

read one of the lessons.

Other activities

Lady Hornsby Smith was portrayed in the 2008 drama ''

The Long Walk to Finchley ''Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley'', subtitled in the initial credits ''How Maggie Might Have Done It'', is a 2008 BBC Four television drama based on the early political career of the young Margaret Thatcher (née Roberts), from her ...

'' (by actress

Sylvestra Le Touzel Sylvestra Le Touzel (born 1958) is a British television, film and stage actor. She was born and raised in Kensington, London, to a prominent family from Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. She attended school in East Acton. Television Beginn ...

References

External links

Patricia Hornsby-Smith pictures
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hornsby-Smith, Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness 1914 births 1985 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Chislehurst People from East Sheen Politicians from London UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs who were granted peerages 20th-century British women politicians Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 20th-century English women 20th-century English people