Edith Pitt
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Dame Edith Pitt DBE |
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|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston |
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In office 2 July 1953 – 27 January 1966 (died in office) |
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| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | Peter Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Jill Knight |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edith Maud Pitt 14 October 1906 Birmingham, England, UK |
| Died | 27 January 1966 (aged 59) Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | Yardley, Birmingham, England, UK |
Dame Edith Maud Pitt, DBE (14 October 1906 – 27 January 1966) was a British Conservative Party M.P. for the Birmingham Edgbaston seat. She had also sat on Birmingham City Council, and sought several Parliamentary seats before being placed in the Conservative safe seat of Edgbaston. When she died, she was succeeded by Jill Knight.
Edith Maud Pitt was born in Birmingham on 14 October 1906. She was the oldest of six children, and her father was a die-stamper. She attended a Birmingham council school, as well as night school before becoming a junior clerk.
Pitt joined the Conservative Party in 1929, and gained a seat on Birmingham City Council. While working for the Council she was a member of an interim committee, established in 1947, designed to ensure that the Council was ready to implement the reforms of the 1948 Children's Act.
She was selected as the Conservative candidate for Birmingham Stechford for the 1950 general election, but lost to the future Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins. She fought the seat again in 1951 unsuccessfully. The Liberal Party did not put forward a candidate, resulting in a straight fight between Pitt and Jenkins. She gained 23,384 votes to Jenkin's 34,355, a reduction on his majority.
Pitt failed to get elected for the safe Labour seat of Birmingham Small Heath in a 1952 by-election. Following her defeat in the by-election, it was suggested that she could again stand for the Birmingham Stechford constituency. She was instead chosen to represent the Conservatives for the Birmingham Edgbaston seat, one which was considered to be safe. The selection of a female candidate for a safe seat was considered by the press to be a change in policy for the Conservative party.
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