The Right Honorable The Baroness Hornsby-Smith DBE, PC |
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Member of Parliament for Chislehurst |
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In office 23 February 1950 – 30 March 1966 |
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Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
Preceded by | George Wallace |
Succeeded by | Alistair Macdonald |
Member of Parliament for Chislehurst |
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In office 18 June 1970 – 27 February 1974 |
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Preceded by | Alistair Macdonald |
Succeeded by | Roger Sims |
Personal details | |
Born |
Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith 17 March 1914 East Sheen, London, England, UK |
Died | 3 July 1985 Westminster, London |
(aged 71)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith, Baroness Hornsby-Smith, DBE, PC (17 March 1914 – 3 July 1985) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Margaret Patricia Hornsby-Smith was born 17 March 1914 in East Sheen, the second child and only daughter of shopkeeper Frederick Charles Hornsby-Smith, a saddle dealer and master umbrella maker, and his wife, Ellen (née Minter). She was educated at the local elementary school, and at Richmond County School for Girls. After leaving school she worked as a private secretary for several firms and for an employers' federation. Her interest in politics was established early and she joined the Junior Imperial League at the age of sixteen. The following year she was invited to join the Conservative Party’s supporting team of speakers for the 1931 election campaign.
During the war she undertook voluntary work. In 1941 she took a job in the civil service as Principal Private Secretary to Lord Selborne, the minister of economic warfare, a post she held until the end of the war.
Her political career took off after the war. She was elected for a term on Barnes council where she served from 1945 – 1949. At the 1950 general election, she was elected as Member of Parliament for Chislehurst, winning a majority of only 167 votes over the sitting Labour MP, George Wallace.