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  • Discover Britain

    THE FIRST LADY

    Nov 01, 2019 5 minutes

    This December marks one hundred years since Britain’s first female MP took her seat in the House of Commons – the elected lower house of Parliament in the United Kingdom. We had to wait another 60 years for our first woman Prime Minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, but our first female sitting Member of Parliament (MP) was Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, also known as Viscountess Astor. She was 40 years old when elected, a remarkable, controversial woman with a strong jaw and opinions to match. Nancy was taking over the Plymouth seat from her husband Waldorf Astor, son and heir of one of the wealthiest men in the world.

    Nancy lived in a world of great affluence, yet won her seat in the House of Commons fairly. Her husband had been MP for Plymouth for nine years when he

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