The Lady Dalton | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forBishop Auckland | |
| In office 7 February 1929 – 10 May 1929 | |
| Preceded by | Ben Spoor |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Dalton |
| Majority | 7,072 (27.2%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Florence Ruth Hamilton Fox 9 March 1890 Oak House,Farnborough, England |
| Died | 15 March 1966 (aged 76) London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Florence Ruth Dalton, Baroness Dalton (néeHamilton Fox; 9 March 1890 – 15 March 1966[1]) was a BritishLabour Party politician. A long serving member of theLondon County Council, she holds the record for being one of the two shortest-serving femaleMembers of Parliament (MP).[2]
A graduate of theLondon School of Economics, she marriedHugh Dalton, later a Labour Party Member of Parliament, in 1914; they had one child, a daughter. The family lived at West Leaze,Aldbourne, Wiltshire and at Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, London.
In 1925 she was elected a member of theLondon County Council.[3]
Her husband was MP forPeckham inSouth London, later a solidly Labour seat, but then highly marginal; his majority in1924 was only 947 votes.[4] He had been selected as Labour candidate for thesafe seat ofBishop Auckland inCounty Durham, where the sitting MPBen Spoor was retiring,[5] but Spoor died shortly before Christmas 1928,[1] necessitating aby-election. However, Hugh Dalton could not stand without resigning his Peckham seat, and the candidate selected to succeed him in Peckham wasJohn Beckett, then MP forGateshead, so Hugh Dalton could not stand without triggering another two by-elections.
The Bishop AucklandConstituency Labour Party therefore needed a candidate who would agree to stand down at the next general election. The seventy-strong general committee unanimously chose Ruth Dalton, because she could be relied on to make way for her husband as soon as Parliament was dissolved; no other candidate was even considered.[5]
Ruth Dalton duly won theby-election on 7 February with a large majority, receiving 57% of the votes cast,[4] and served untilParliament was dissolved on 10 May for the1929 general election. She had thus been a Member of Parliament for only 92 days, a record for a female MP. It was equalled 45 years later byMargo MacDonald, theScottish National Party MP forGlasgow Govan from 8 November 1973 to 8 February 1974.[2]
Dalton did not enjoy theHouse of Commons,[2] and as agreed did not stand for Parliament again.[4] She felt that more work was accomplished on London County Council, where she held her seat as an elected member until 1931, then returning from 1935 to 1942 as analderman, including a period as Chairman of the Parks Committee. She later served on the Board of Governors of theRoyal Ballet and from 1957 to 1962 was on theArts Council.[3]
Her husband was made alife peer in 1960, and she was then known asLady Dalton.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBishop Auckland Feb. 1929–May 1929 | Succeeded by |