Ellen Cicely Wilkinson (8 October 1891, Manchester-6 February 1947) was the Labour Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough and later for Jarrow on Tyneside. October 8 is the 281st day of the year (282nd in leap years). ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Labour Party is the principal centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Map sources for Middlesbrough at grid reference NZ5118 Middlesbrough is a town and district in North-East England, with a resident population in 2001 of 134,855. ... Map sources for Jarrow at grid reference NZ3465 Jarrow is a town on the River Tyne, England with a population around 27,000 (2001 Census). ... Tyneside is a conurbation in northern England, covering part of the area of Tyne and Wear. ...

Wilkinson's parents were Richard Wilkinson and Ellen Wood, both Methodists. Richard Wilkinson was employed as a Manchester textile worker then became an insurance clerk. Ellen won several scholarships and was thus able to progress her education, mainly at the Ardwick School. In 1910 she became a student at the University of Manchester, where she studied history. She was a very small woman with a shock of red hair, pale skin and arresting blue eyes. The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The University of Manchester in Manchester, England is a university that was formed from the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester before the merger) and UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) on 1 October 2004. ...

Wilkinson developed an interest in socialism after reading Merrie England by Robert Blatchford. At the age of sixteen she joined the Independent Labour Party after hearing a speech made by Kathleen Glasier. At University she became active in various organisations including the University Socialist Federation, the Fabian Society and the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, for which she became an organiser in 1913. In 1915 she was employed by the National Union of Distributive & Allied Workers to organise the Co-operative Employees, the first woman organiser of that trade union. She was a founder member of the Communist Party in 1920 and in 1921 attended the founding conference of the Red International of Labour Unions in Moscow but left the CP in early 1924. She was also active in local politics and in 1923 was elected to Manchester City Council. The term Merry England, or in more jocular, half-timbered spelling Merrie England, refers to a semi-mythological, idyllic, and pastoral way of life that the lucky inhabitants of England allegedly enjoyed at some poorly-defined point between the Middle Ages and the completion of the Industrial Revolution. ... Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford, (March 17, 1851 – December 17, 1943), was a socialist campaigner and author. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by social democratic, rather than revolutionary, means. ... The National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) is commonly known as the Suffragists (not to be confused with the suffragettes). ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) is a trade union in the United Kingdom. ... The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was a political party in the United Kingdom, which existed from 1920 to 1991. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In the 1924 General Election, Wilkinson was elected to represent Middlesbrough East. In the House of Commons she was given the nickname of 'Red Ellen' both for her hair colour and her politics. Wilkinson had a reputation for being tough and charismatic. She was active in the 1926 General Strike. Following the 1929 General Election, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald appointed Wilkinson as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health. Wilkinson opposed the National Government formed by MacDonald and lost her seat in the 1931 General Election, along with many of her Labour colleagues. She then devoted herself to writing - including a novel, The Division Bell Mystery - and campaigning. The 1924 UK general election was held on 29th October 1924. ... Map sources for Middlesbrough at grid reference NZ5118 Middlesbrough is a town and district in North-East England, with a resident population in 2001 of 134,855. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The UK General Strike of 1926 lasted nine days, from 3 May to 12 May 1926, and was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. ... The 1929 UK general election was held on 30th May 1929, and resulted in a hung parliament. ... The Right Honourable James Ramsay MacDonald, PC (12 October 1866–9 November 1937), British politician, was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to appoint parliamentary secretaries (in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, parliamentary assistants) from their caucus to assist cabinet ministers with their work. ... Minister of Health redirects here. ... The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. ...

In the 1935 General Election, Wilkinson re-entered Parliament as MP for Jarrow. The town had one of the worst unemployment records in Britain with nearly 80% of the insured population out of work. In 1936 she organised the historic Jarrow March of 200 unemployed workers from Jarrow to London where she presented a petition for jobs to Parliament. The UK general election held on 14th November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin. ... Map sources for Jarrow at grid reference NZ3465 Jarrow is a town on the River Tyne, England with a population around 27,000 (2001 Census). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... During the Great Depression in the United Kingdom, the people of the North East England who were mainly miners and shipworkers, suffered even more than the rest of the country from the prevailing unemployment and poverty. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ...

Wilkinson became associated with the left of the Parliamentary Labour Party, helping to found Tribune Magazine and supporting the International Brigades fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. She travelled to Spain with Clement Attlee where they documented the German bombing of Valencia and Madrid. The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) consists of the Labour Party in Parliament: Labour MPs as a collective body. ... Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper, published in London. ... Blason of the International Brigades The International Brigades were Republican military units in the Spanish Civil War, formed of many non-state sponsored volunteers of different countries who travelled to Spain, to fight for the legitimate, elected government in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. ... History of Spain series Prehistoric Spain Roman Spain Medieval Spain - Visigoths - Al-Andalus - Age of Reconquest Age of Expansion Age of Enlightenment Reaction and Revolution First Spanish Republic The Restoration Second Spanish Republic Spanish Civil War The Dictatorship Transition to Democracy Modern Spain Topics Economic History Military History Social History... The Right Honourable Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... The Hemispheric at the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències by Santiago Calatrava, Valencia, Spain. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In 1938 Wilkinson succeeded in making her 1938 Hire Purchase Act law. The act protected those who bought high-cost goods on credit, requiring shopkeepers to display on the goods the actual cash price plus the sum added for interest, and protecting hirers who had paid at least one third of the price, who might otherwise lose their payments if the goods were seized due to arrears.-1...

In Churchill's wartime coalition government, Wilkinson was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Pensions. Later she joined Herbert Morrison at the Home Office. She was responsible for air raid shelters and was instrumental in the introduction of Morrison Shelters in 1941. The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is a position in the UK cabinet, responsible for the Department for Work and Pensions. ... For others named Herbert Morrison, see Herbert Morrison (disambiguation). ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Following the 1945 General Election, Prime Minister Clement Attlee appointed Wilkinson as Minister of Education, the first woman to hold the post in Britain. Her plan to increase the school-leaving age to sixteen was abandoned when the government decided that the measure would be too expensive. However, she did persuade Parliament to pass the 1946 School Milk Act that gave free milk to all British schoolchildren. The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 held on 5 July 1945 but not counted and declared until 26 July 1945 (due to the time it took to transport the votes of those serving overseas) was one of the most significant general elections of the 20th century. ... The Secretary of State for Education and Skills is the chief minister of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom government. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

Tragically, Wilkinson became depressed, allegedly because of her failure to see through all the reforms she had hoped for, and took an overdose of barbiturates, dying in February 1947. Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and by virtue of this they produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to anesthesia. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Books

• The Workers History of the Great Strike (1927), with Frank Horrabin and Raymond Postgate
• Peeps at Politicians (1931)
• The Terror in Germany (1933)
• The Division Bell Mystery (1932), a novel
• The Town That Was Murdered (1939), account of the Jarrow March