Irene Chaplin (1900–1990), known as Ina, was a German-born British politician who served on

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

. Born in Memel, in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(modern Klaipėda, Lithuania) as Irene Marcousé, she grew up in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and attended the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

and

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1930, she moved to

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

, where she was a founder of the Holborn Youth Centre, and joined the Labour Party. In 1937, Marcousé stood unsuccessfully for Holborn Metropolitan Borough Council, but she won a seat in a 1939 by-election. She stood in the

1945 United Kingdom general election The 1945 United Kingdom general election took place on Thursday 5 July 1945. With World War II, the Second World War still fresh in voters’ minds, the opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party under the leadership of Clement Attlee won a lan ...

, missing out on election by only 925 votes. Despite this, the Labour Party won control of the council, for the first time, and Marcousé became leader of the council, and also chair of the housing committee. Given the destruction of housing during the Blitz, there was widespread homelessness in the area. Marcousé ordered the

town clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

to sign 500 requisition notices and personally identified 500 empty properties, nailing the notices to the doors, and enabling 500 homeless families to find accommodation. She also arranged for a bomb-damaged swimming pool to reopen as an open air pool, opened a furniture store, social centre, information centre, library, and children's playground, and organised entertainment in many of the borough's squares. The council also commissioned new flats, in the Great Ormond Street area. She also attracted criticism for permitting the construction of offices, including new council offices, and for prioritising wealthier families for the newly built housing, and the party lost control of the council in the 1949 elections. In 1946, Chaplin was elected to the

, representing

Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...

. She stood in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

unsuccessfully at the

1950 United Kingdom general election The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first to be held after a full term of a majority Labour Party (UK), Labour government. The general election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was also the first to be held following the a ...

, and thereafter devoted her time to the LCC. She remained on the LCC until 1965, when it was replaced by the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC). On the new body, she first represented

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, then Hackney, and finally

Hackney South and Shoreditch Hackney South and Shoreditch is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of Labour Co-op. History ...

, retiring in 1977. She additionally served on the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

, and for a period was its deputy chair. Later in life, Chaplin suffered a stroke, and thereafter used a wheelchair. She died in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaplin, Ina 1900 births 1990 deaths Alumni of the University of London Heidelberg University alumni Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates German emigrants to the United Kingdom Members of the Greater London Council Members of London County Council Politicians from Klaipėda Politicians from East Prussia Leaders of local authorities of England German expatriates in Belgium Women councillors in England