Mavis Tate biography
Object numberL4120
TitleMavis Tate biography
DescriptionThe Tragic & Triumphant life of Mavis Tate, Frome’s MP from 1935 to 1945
In 1931, Mrs Mavis Tate was elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for West Willesden beginning the career of one of the most remarkable women to have taken a seat in the House.
The result of many years of research, Churchill's Maverick MP tells the story of her life, from birth into the influential Hogg family in 1892 on the exotic island of St Helena and early upbringing in Cape Town, to her tragic death in 1947. In between was an outstanding political career –her introduction to politics began as an aid to her cousin the future Viscount Hailsham in his campaign in Marylebone prompting a lifetime in politics. She learnt to pilot her own plane eventually becoming an expert on the aviation industry.
Mavis Tate was MP for Frome from 1935 until 1945 – which saw her involved in some of the most dramatic events in Parliamentary history, including a major part in the only political defeat Churchill experienced as Prime Minister during the Second World War. Disguised as a factory worker she spent time at one site to see how labour was being employed in a way that she would not have been able to do as an MP.
Feared and admired for her sharp wit and deep understanding of matters as diverse as aviation and agriculture she stood head and shoulders above her peers. Among her achievements, were a visit to Germany in 1934 meeting top Nazi's and securing the release single-handedly of a mother and daughter from a pre-war Nazi prison camp.
Mrs Tate was a lifelong advocate of equality between the sexes, never missing an opportunity to campaign on the issue both in the Commons and outside being vocal on the subject of equal pay for women as part of the war effort. She chaired many committees and later became well-known through her appearances on the BBC’s hugely popular Brains Trust and regularly travelled the country with the Daily Express spin off tours.
After the war she was the only woman MP in a parliamentary delegation to the notorious Buchenwald Concentration Camp, and fronted the Pathe News report on the horrors found there. It is believed that what she experienced wrecked her mental and physical health. Besieged by ongoing serious health problems, constant pain, and the tragedies in her personal life, and with a near impossible professional work load she took her own life in 1947 thus robbing the political world of a person who had much more to give.
A remarkable woman during a politically remarkable time, this biography is a permanent testament to a female politician who had the potential to be a future Prime Minister - but fate decreed otherwise.
CollectionTate
Object categoryBook
Approx. DateDate2026
Creator Mick Davis, David Lassman
NotesThe full text of the book is available via the digital link
Default locationVirtual Library
Digital linksL4120 Mavis Tate.pdf