SKETCHES OF ENGLISH M.P.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 401, 7 April 1937, Page 7

SKETCHES OF ENGLISH M.P.

Lady Astor’s Difference. Seme delightful sketches of English Parliamentary women have up peared in Thu Queen, vuiilten by; an M.P. who is stated io be “the brilliant. young, member for JAiut F'l.te, Mr Henderson Stewar..” He knows ilia ladies he writes about bo li i:. ■he House of Commons and out of it, and is well qualified to be their brief biographer. He begins by saying that tie knows it is highly dangerous for ,1 min to at.empt a pen picture of the women members of he House, and still more tor a bachelor to do so. Yat, he finds, the nine women members torm a fascinating group in the present House, and maybe a man’s point ol view may do them most justice—t’.i erefore he adventures into his task with a good heart and a kind intention. He groups them in four main classes: Lady Astor “quite unique”; Duchess of Atholl, Miss Horsbrugh, Miss Rathbone, Miss Wilkinson—as the “elder stateswonien”—though he regards them as practically ageless: Miss Lloyd George, Miss Cazalet, and Miss Ward, as of the new genera lion; then Mrs Tate, “ilso unique.” “Lady Astor,” states Mr Stewart, “stands apart, poles removed from any othei member, male or female. She alone can claim to represent .hat Illusory thing, ‘the women’s point of view.’ The other women members are each in their way distinctive, but their contribuution to the business of Parliament, whether in style of matter, is not essentially different from that of the male m.mber. The House has a way of moulding its members to a broad general pattern and, excepting Lady Astor, the women members have not escaped its influence. But Lady Astor is differ ent, even in the elementaries of procedure. “Most of us, for instance, are somewhat awed by the’dignity and form of the Chamber. Lady As.’o, cares nothing for either. She will denounce Government, House, or Speaker without, compunction or pausing to draw breath; and rules of order, when she chooses to ignore them, might never exist. She is vivacious, witty, and original; often illogical and irrelevant; yet all the while humorous, friendly, and brave. I have seen her attack h r own friends in a House howling derision, and gather fresh spirit from the encounter. And for all that (bad form as it usually is) 1 am her admirer. How good it is in this ‘planning’ age to see individualism triumph. “Like most of us Lady Astor has her special likes and aversions. She is the champion of children and the arch enemy of brewers'. She would lavish the resources of the State on mothers and open air nurseries, and cheerfully m'arve all those who .grow hops or sugar beet. I happen to represent a beet-growing district, which draws the subsidy, and so have fallen under he? lash. “She is the vocal gangster of Parliament, yet remains everybody's pet ■and is ‘Nancy’ to all. The wildest Socialists are her pals in the Lobby. Mr Kirkwool—to the' rest of ue in debate' the Hon. member for Dum barton,’ Is plain ‘Now, David' to her, 'and she is as likely to link her arm with Mr Gallacher as with the Secretary for war.”