en Jennie Adamson

Janet Laurel Adamson
Janet Laurel Adamson
	Adamson in 1945
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