British union official and political leader Margaret Bondfield (1873-1953) was a lifelong advocate of improving the lives of working women, working toward this goal in her roles as a labor activist, suffragist, and politician. Beginning her career as a working class woman herself, her reform efforts eventually brought her into the highest levels of government; she served as a member of Parliament in the 1920s and in 1929 became the country's first female cabinet official when she was named minister of labour.

Margaret Bondfield was a prominent figure in British labor union leadership and progressive political movements in the first half of the twentieth century. Beginning her career as a shop assistant in her teens, Bondfield gradually worked her way up the ranks of union leadership. In her political work, she promoted better working conditions for women and voting rights for all adults. She served as a member of...