Norma Edwards Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Term End:17 November 2005
Honorific-Suffix:OBE
Office:Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council
for Camp
Norma Edwards
Successor:Richard Stevens
Office1:Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council
for Stanley
Term Start1:3 October 1985
Term End1:1987
Successor1:Terry Betts
Term Start:12 October 1989
Nationality:Falkland Islander
Party:Nonpartisan
Spouse:Roger Edwards
Children:Emma, Rebecca

Norma Edwards OBE is a Falkland Islands politician. She served for two decades on the Falkland Islands Legislative Council[1] and has been described as a "noted hard-liner" in opposition to Argentine control of the islands.[2]

Edwards is a native Falkland Islander, the fourth generation born on the islands.[3] She pursued her early schooling there before leaving for the United Kingdom, where she trained as a nurse. She lived for a time in Portsmouth, England, where her daughters Emma and Rebecca were born, before returning to the Falklands with her family after the 1982 war.[4]

She was first elected to the Falkland Islands Legislative Council to represent Stanley in 1985, the first election after the islands' 1985 constitution came into force.[5] She resigned from that post in 1987,[6] and in 1989 she returned to the council as a representative of the Camp constituency, a position she held until her retirement in 2005.[7] [8]

Edwards has advocated in favor of the Falkland Islands' right to self-determination, in opposition to Argentina's claim to the islands.[9] She was a fierce opponent of the 1999 Anglo-Argentine joint agreement and offered testimony to the United Nations in favor of the British side of the dispute.[10]

Her husband, Roger Edwards, whom she married in 1970, is a current member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. The couple has lived on and run a farm on West Falkland since 1986.[11] Her daughter Emma Edwards also served on the Legislative Assembly from 2009 until 2011. Her younger daughter, Rebecca, is the first-ever female physician from the Falklands.

Edwards was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 Birthday Honours for "services to the community."[12]

References

  1. Web site: Norma Edwards OBE. 2020-09-17. The Falkland Islands Association. en-gb.
  2. Web site: Argentine architects hope for early Memorial siteing.. 2020-09-17. MercoPress. en.
  3. Web site: Cockwell. Jenny. Our Islands, Our Home. Falkland Islands Government.
  4. Web site: Hon. Emma Edwards. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20101216184650/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Emma_Edwards.html. 2010-12-16. The Falkland Islands Government.
  5. "FI Gazette LEC/20/8". Jane Cameron National Archives. 1985.
  6. "News in Brief" (PDF) (90). Penguin News. 30 January 1987: 11.
  7. "Penguin News". Jane Cameron National Archives. 13 October 1989.
  8. Web site: Royal Honour for Falklands' Champion. 2020-09-17. MercoPress. en.
  9. Web site: 1999-03-21. Letter: Proudly British. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-proudly-british-1082181.html . 2022-06-21 . subscription . live. 2020-09-17. The Independent. en.
  10. Web site: SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION REITERATES CALL ON ARGENTINA, UNITED KINGDOM TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON FALKLANDS/MALVINAS ISSUE Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. 2020-09-17. www.un.org.
  11. Web site: Hon. Roger Edwards. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20101216184532/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Roger_Edwards.html. 2010-12-16. The Falkland Islands Government.
  12. News: 2006-06-17. Birthday Honours List — United Kingdom. The London Gazette.