Jennie Adamson

Janet Laurel Adamson
Janet Laurel Adamson
Member of Parliament; for Bexley
	In office; 5 July 1945 – 21 July 1946
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Ashley Bramall
Member of Parliament; for Dartford
	In office; 7 November 1938 – 15 June 1945
Preceded by	Frank Edward Clarke
Succeeded by	Norman Dodds
Chair of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party
	In office; 1935–1936
Preceded by	William Albert Robinson
Succeeded by	Hugh Dalton
Member of London County Council; for Lambeth North
	In office; 8 March 1928 – 5 March 1931
Preceded by	Richard Charles Powell
Succeeded by	Ida Samuel
Personal details
Born	Janet Laurel Johnston; 9 May 1882; Kilmarnock, Scotland
Died	25 April 1962 (aged 79)
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse	William Murdoch Adamson (died 1945)

Janet Laurel Adamson (née Johnston;^[1] 9 May 1882 – 25 April 1962) was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (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, a Transport and General Workers' Union official who became Labour MP for Cannock.^[1]^[2]

From 1928 to 1931, Adamson was a member of London County Council for Lambeth North. She served on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party from 1927 to 1947, which she chaired from 1935 to 1936.^[1]^[2]

Adamson unsuccessfully contested Dartford at the 1935 general election, when the sitting Conservative MP Frank Clarke held the seat with a significantly reduced majority.^[3] 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%.^[3] With her husband, they became the only husband and wife in the House of Commons.^[4]

The constituency was divided in boundary changes for the 1945 general election, when Adamson was elected with a large majority (27% of the votes) for the new Bexley constituency.^[5] She served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary from 1940 to 1945 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions from 1945 to 1946,^[1] under minister Wilfred Paling.

Adamson resigned from Parliament in 1946, becoming Deputy Chair of the Unemployment Assistance Board from 1946 to 1953.^[1] Her resignation precipitated a by-election in July 1946 which was narrowly won by the Labour candidate Ashley Bramall.^[5] At the next general election, in 1950, the seat was won by future Prime Minister Edward Heath.

Adamson died on 25 April 1962.^[6]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Jennie Adamson". Observatory. Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen's University Belfast. Archived from the original on 13 October 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014. ^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b Stenton and Lees Who's Who of British Members of Parliament vol. iv p. 1
^ ^a ^b Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 383. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
^ "LABOUR GAINS". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 November 1938. p. 17. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Craig, op cit, page 76
^ Stenton and Lees Who's Who of British Members of Parliament vol. iv p. 2

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. ISBN 0-391-01087-5

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Frank Clarke	Member of Parliament for Dartford 1938 – 1945	Succeeded by Norman Dodds
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Bexley 1945 – 1946	Succeeded by Ashley Bramall
Political offices
Preceded by William Sidney	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Pensions 1945 – 1946	Succeeded by Arthur Blenkinsop
Party political offices
Preceded by William Albert Robinson	Chair of the Labour Party 1935–1936	Succeeded by Hugh Dalton

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Poland
Other	IdRef