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Margaret McKay

Margaret McKay (née McCarthy; 22 January 1907 – 1 March 1996) was a British Labour Party Member of Parliament for Clapham from 1964 to 1970.

Margaret McKay
Member of Parliament
for Clapham
In office
15 October 1964 – 29 May 1970
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
Preceded byAlan Glyn
Succeeded byWilliam Shelton
Personal details
Born
Margaret McCarthy

(1907-01-22)22 January 1907
Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England
Died1 March 1996(1996-03-01) (aged 89)
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Political partyLabour

Early life

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Despite later assertions that McKay was born in 1911, she was in fact born on 22 January 1907 at Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, a daughter of Joseph and Betsy Ann (Catlow) McCarthy.[1]

Career

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McKay's family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts[citation needed] in her youth, but then returned to England. McKay joined the Independent Labour Party's Guild of Youth, then the Young Communist League, graduating to the Communist Party of Great Britain. She left the party in 1932, joining the Labour Party,[2] and became active in the Socialist League, a left-wing pressure group within the party, serving as its general secretary from 1936 until it was dissolved the following year.[3] She also became general secretary of the National Union of Domestic Workers, a national organiser for the Transport and General Workers' Union, and Trades Union Congress Women's Officer (1951–1962).[4]

After holding various trade union posts, McKay stood unsuccessfully for Labour in Walthamstow East at the 1959 general election.[2] At the 1964 general election, she defeated the sitting Conservative MP Alan Glyn for Clapham, taking the seat with a majority of only 556.[5] At the 1966 election she increased her majority to over 4,000 against the Conservative Ian Gow,[6] but she stood down at the 1970 general election, when the seat was won by the Conservative William Shelton.[7]

Following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War McKay was the first MP to raise the issue of the Palestinian refugees.[8] She established the Anglo-Jordanian Alliance (AJA) in Parliament. [9] In 1970 she approached Sheikh Zayed of the UAR for funds to launch a PR campaign to improve British perception of the Arab World. Zayed agreed to make a donation of £40,000 with plans to buy property in central London. [10] This ended in a failed attempt to buy a former finishing school for debutants, The Monkey Club, Pont Street.[11][12] She was not liked by the press which represented her as politically naive[13] with the setting up of a Palestinian refugee camp in Parliament Square and appearing in Parliament wearing a traditional Palestinian women’s thowb. There were accusations of mismanagement of the money.[14]

Her views led to criticism from with the Labour Party leadership. She received a warning from the Chief Whip and the leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party over her remarking that 62 Jewish MPs made it impossible for the Government to be anything but pro Israel. In 1969 the AJA published a four page advertisement in The Times. It was head-lined “The Tragic Arab Israeli War, 5 June 1967. Second Anniversary”. It was signed by McKay and four other MPs. Her local Clapham Labour Party Branch disassociated themselves from the advert.[15] Ultimately she was deselected.

McKay retired to Abu Dhabi where she received a pension from Sheikh Yazid.[16] At one stage her Parliamentary pension was withheld. She died there on 1 March 1996. She is buried at Sas Al Nakhl cemetery.[citation needed]

Jordan issued a postage stamp in her honour.

References

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  1. ^ Edward J. Davies, "The Parentages of Edward Whittle and Margaret McKay", North West Labour History, 38(2013-14):43.
  2. ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  3. ^ Michael Bor, The Socialist League in the 1930s, p.91
  4. ^ Report of Annual Trades Union Congress. Trades Union Congress. 1996.
  5. ^ Not updated: UK General Election results: October 1964
  6. ^ Not updated: UK General Election results: March 1966
  7. ^ Not updated: UK General Election results 1970
  8. ^ Morris, Claud (1996) The Last Inch, a Middle Eastern Odyssey. Kegan & Paul International. ISBN 0-7103-0552-4 p.163 quotes Tom Little “at the time she was the only person willing to carry the can for Palestinians”.
  9. ^ Morris p. 165 “first group in Parliament”
  10. ^ https://www.jstor.org/stable/23604055?read-now=1&seq=21 Lionel Kochan p. 214 requires registering to read. “a cultural & recreational centre for Arab students”
  11. ^ The Monkey Club
  12. ^ Morris p.162
  13. ^ Morris p.163 “haunted by a lousy press”
  14. ^ Morris p.206 “didn’t show discretion in handling the money.”
  15. ^ American Jewish Year Book Vol 7 1970 p.412
  16. ^ Morris p.165

Further reading

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  • Margaret McCarthy, Generation in Revolt, Heinemann, 1953
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Clapham
1964–1970 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by General Secretary of the Socialist League
1936–1937 		Succeeded by
Position abolished
Trade union offices
Preceded by Woman Officer of the Trades Union Congress
1951–1962 		Succeeded by



    

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