Jean Mann JP

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 (1889 – 21 March 1964), born Jean Stewart, was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician.

Mann was educated at Bellahouston Academy

Bellahouston Academy

Bellahouston Academy is a non-denominational state-run secondary school in Bellahouston, south-west Glasgow, Scotland.-History:Bellahouston Academy first opened in 1876 as a private school, run by Alexander Sim. It was taken over by the Govan School Board in 1885, and has been a state school ever...

 in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and became an accountant. Married with five children, she was a councillor on Glasgow Corporation from 1931 to 1938, where she served as Housing convenor. She became Vice President of the Scottish Housing and Town Planning Association, and was a senior magistrate in Glasgow.

She unsuccessfully contested the Renfrewshire West

Renfrewshire West (UK Parliament constituency)

West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005...

 constituency at the 1931 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1931

The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...

 and again in 1935

United Kingdom general election, 1935

The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...

. However, in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

, Mann was elected as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Coatbridge

Coatbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Coatbridge was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament from 1918 to 1950, elected by the first past the post voting system....

.

After she had taken the oath, it was noticed that her position on the Rent Tribunals under the Rent of Furnished Houses Control (Scotland) Act 1943 was remunerated and that she therefore might hold an 'office of profit under the Crown' which would disqualify hier from election. A Select Committee was set up which reported that her election was invalid; a Bill was rushed through validating it and indemnifying her from the consequences of acting as an MP while disqualified.

When the constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1950

The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...

, she was returned for the new Coatbridge and Airdrie

Coatbridge and Airdrie (UK Parliament constituency)

Coatbridge and Airdrie was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament from 1950 until 1983.It was then replaced by the Monklands West constituency.-Boundaries:...

 constituency, holding the seat until she retired at the 1959 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1959

This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...

.

Mann was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee

National Executive Committee

The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party and European Parliamentary Labour Party, Constituency Labour Parties,...

 from 1953 to 1958.

Her memoir, "Woman in Parliament", recalled the difficulties facing women MPs and their efforts to improve legislation for women and families.http://www.megmunnmp.org.uk/datapages/views/viewsviewentry.asp?id=107

External links