Mary Holt Explained

Mary Holt
Birth Date:31 July 1924
Death Place:Fulwood, Preston, England
Office:Member of Parliament
for Preston North
Term Start:18 June 1970
Term End:8 February 1974
Predecessor:Ronald Atkins
Successor:Ronald Atkins
Parliament:United Kingdom
Party:Conservative
Nationality:British
Alma Mater:Girton College, Cambridge

Mary Holt (31 July 1924 – 17 February 2021) was a British Conservative politician and judge.

Early life

Holt was born in July 1924. She gained her degree, an MA LLB with honours, from Girton College, Cambridge.[1] [2]

Career

Holt was Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston North from 1970 to 1974, when she lost the seat in the February election of that year to Labour's Ronald Atkins (from whom she had won the seat in 1970). She was the first woman to hold the Preston North seat. In Parliament, she was an advocate for the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973, which allowed wives to have different addresses to their husbands.[3] Her attempt to regain the seat in the October 1974 election was unsuccessful.[4] From 1977 to 1995, Holt was a circuit court judge.

Personal life

Holt never married. She died in Fulwood, Preston in February 2021 at the age of 96, weeks after the death of her predecessor (and successor) Ronald Atkins at 104.[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Former women MPs first elected in the 1970s: Mary Holt. qub.ac.uk. Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen's University Belfast. 20 August 2015.
  2. Book: The honourable ladies. Volume I, Profiles of women MPs 1918--1996. Dale, Iain,, Smith, Jacqui, 1962-. 4 September 2018. 9781785904493. London. 1050870942.
  3. Web site: Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973. www.legislation.gov.uk. 2019-07-25.
  4. Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974
  5. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lep-uk/obituary.aspx?n=mary-holt&pid=197886656 Mary Holt death notice
  6. News: Mary Holt, Right-leaning Conservative MP who championed women's causes – obituary . . 26 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230604212843/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/02/26/mary-holt-right-leaning-conservative-mp-championed-womens-causes/ . 2023-06-04 . live . Obituaries . Telegraph .