Janet Laurel Adamson (née Johnston; 9 May 1882 – 25 April 1962) was a British Labour Party politician who served as a

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) from 1938 to 1946, and as a junior minister in Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government.

Early life and family

Janet Laurel Johnston was born on 9 May 1882, the daughter of Thomas Johnston of Kirkcudbright. She married, in 1902, to

William Murdoch Adamson William Murdoch Adamson (12 April 1881 – 25 October 1945) was a British Labour politician. He was a National Officer of the Transport and General Workers' Union. In 1902 he married Jennie Johnston, later Member of Parliament for Dartford ...

, a

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

official who became Labour MP for

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolv ...

.Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol. iv p. 1

Political career

From 1928 to 1931, Adamson was a member of

London County Council 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 kno ...

for Lambeth North. She served on the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

of the Labour Party from 1927 to 1947, which she chaired from 1935 to 1936. Adamson unsuccessfully contested Dartford at the 1935 general election, when the sitting

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 ...

MP Frank Clarke held the seat with a significantly reduced majority. However, Clarke died in July 1938, and at the resulting by-election in November 1938, Adamson won the seat on a swing of 4.2%. With her husband, she became the only husband and wife in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The constituency was divided in boundary changes for 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 ...

, when Adamson was elected with a large majority (27% of the votes) for the new Bexley constituency.Craig, ''op cit'', page 76 She served as a

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

from 1940 to 1945 and Parliamentary Secretary to the

Ministry of Pensions Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

from 1945 to 1946, under minister

Wilfred Paling Wilfred Paling (7 April 1883 – 17 April 1971) was a British Labour Party politician. He was born at Marehay, near Ripley, Derbyshire, one of eight children of a coalminer. Paling left Ripley Elementary School at the age of 13, and entered ...

. Adamson resigned from Parliament in 1946, becoming Deputy Chair of the

Unemployment Assistance Board The Unemployment Assistance Board was a body created in Britain by the Unemployment Act 1934 due to the high levels of inter-war poverty in Britain. The Board kept a system of means-tested benefit A means test is a determination of whether an in ...

from 1946 to 1953. Her resignation precipitated a by-election in July 1946 which was narrowly won by the Labour candidate

Ashley Bramall Sir Ernest Ashley Bramall (6 January 1916 – 10 February 1999) was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Bexley from 1946 to 1950 and Leader of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) for 11 years. Family and early c ...

. At the next general election, in 1950, the seat was won by future Prime Minister

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 ...

. Adamson died on 25 April 1962.Stenton and Lees ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'' vol. iv p. 2

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Stenton, M., Lees, S. (1981). ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament'', volume iv (covering 1945-1979). Sussex: The Harvester Press; New Jersey: Humanities Press.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Janet 1882 births 1962 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 Members of London County Council Chairs of the Labour Party (UK) 20th-century British women politicians Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Women councillors in England