Hilda Runciman, Viscountess Runciman of Doxford
John Hawke | |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Walter Runciman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 September 1869 |
| Died | 28 October 1956 (aged 87) London |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent |
|
Hilda Runciman, Viscountess Runciman of Doxford (28 September 1869 – 28 October 1956) was a British Liberal Party politician.
Family and education
A daughter of
Political career
Local
She became the first woman member to be elected to the
National
In the 1920s Mrs Runciman took on a more national political role. She served as president of the
Parliament
She became an MP in her own right in 1928, when she was elected in a by-election as Member of Parliament for St Ives in Cornwall, but she remained in Parliament for only one year and handed the seat to her husband at the 1929 general election. The 'halo effect' of women taking a parliamentary seat and then handing it over to their husband accounted for the election of ten women MPs (nearly a third of the women elected to Parliament) between both World Wars.[4]
She herself fought the 1929 general election for the Liberals at Tavistock and had been invited to become the candidate by the local Liberal Association against the wishes of national headquarters, which was apparently unhappy that she was not a supporter of the party leader. David Lloyd George.[5] She narrowly failed to gain Tavistock from the Conservatives by just 152 votes.[6]
Titles
In 1937 her husband became Viscount Runciman of Doxford, and she was styled as Viscountess Runciman of Doxford.[3]
Death
Hilda Runciman died of heart failure at her home, 73 Portland Place, London, on 28 October 1956, aged 87.[3]
