Topic summary
Nancy Astor
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor.
Early years in Parliament
Nancy Astor's accomplishments in the House of Commons were relatively minor. Despite defending her seat in five consecutive elections throughout the 1920s, she never held a position with much influence or any post of ministerial rank although her time in Commons saw four Conservative Prime Ministers in office. Katharine, Duchess of Atholl (elected to Parliament in 1923, four years after Lady Astor) rose to higher levels in the Conservative Party before Astor. Astor felt if she had more position in the party, she would be less free to criticise her party's government.