The forgotten pioneer: Who was Margaret Bondfield, Britain’s first female Cabinet Minister?

About this episode

This episode explores the life and legacy of Margaret Bondfield, Britain's first female Cabinet Minister, through the insights of historian Nan Sloane.

Why is Britain’s first female cabinet minister almost invisible in our political memory? In this episode we are joined by historian and author Nan Sloane, whose new biography of Margaret Bondfield has just been published, to uncover the remarkable and largely forgotten story of this pioneering figure. Bondfield – a working-class trade unionist – became the first woman to serve in the British Cabinet yet is rarely mentioned alongside figures such as Nancy Astor or Ellen Wilkinson. She did not enter politics through the suffrage movement. Instead, she rose through the male-dominated trade union movement, often as the only woman in the room. Born into a large working-class family in Somerset, she left school at thirteen to work in shops where staff were legally treated as domestic servants and endured punishing conditions. Driven by a fierce commitment to social justice, she became a powerful organiser, accomplished public speaker and a leading national figure within the labour movement. Elected to Parliament in 1923, she made history in 1929 when she was appointed Minister of Labour, becoming the first woman to serve in the Cabinet and the first female Privy Counsellor. But it was…

People in this episode

Host: Hansard Society

Guest: Nan Sloane

Topics covered

• women in politics
• historical figures
• trade unionism
• social justice
• Labour Party history

Keywords

• Margaret Bondfield
• female Cabinet Minister
• Nan Sloane
• Labour Party
• trade unionist
• social justice
• political history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hansard Society

Places: Britain, Somerset

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