Edith Wills

Edith Agnes Wills (21 November 1892 – 7 April 1970) was a Labour and Co-operative politician in the United Kingdom.

Edith Wills
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Duddeston
In office 5 July 1945 – 22 February 1950
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Oliver Simmonds
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Edith Agnes Wood 21 November 1892
Died	7 April 1970 (aged 77)
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Frank Wills
Children	One son

Early life

Wills was the daughter of John Wood and Henrietta Hook. In 1921, she married Frank Wills, and had one son. She was active in the co-operative movement and is remembered as teaching youth classes for the Birmingham Co-operative Society.[1]

Career

Edith Wills was elected to Birmingham City Council in 1930 and served until 1946. She became a magistrate in the city in 1934 and served on a number of charity boards and other organisations.[2]

Wills was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Duddeston in Labour's landslide victory of 1945, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. Wills was the first woman to serve as an MP for the city, and held the seat until 1950, when it was abolished by boundary changes.

Wills returned to the City Council in 1956 in a by-election for the Deritend ward.

References

1. Vickerage, Harry M (1950). Seventy-five Years of Co-operative Endeavour. CWS. p. 71.
2. The Birmingham Post Year Book 1967-1968. The Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. 1967. p. 1015.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 3)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Edith Wills