I am a historian, author, trainer and speaker with an interest in the role of women in the public space, particularly in politics and the Labour Party.

My new book, Margaret Bondfield: Britain’s First Female Cabinet Minister, will be published by Bloomsbury on 19 February 2026. It is available to pre-order here.

It tells the remarkable story of a political pioneer and working-class woman who rose through the ranks of the trade union movement and the Labour Party to become, in 1929, the first female Cabinet Minister.

For the first half of the twentieth century Margaret Bondfield lived at the heart of tempestuous and complicated times, always working for working-class women’s rights, trade unionism, socialism and peace. She visited revolutionary Russia and New Deal America, and had friends across the world, but also played a pivotal role in the 1929-31 Labour government. It’s more than time that she was restored to her rightful place in history.

My earlier book, Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries, is published by Bloomsbury (IB Tauris), and was chosen as one of the Guardian newspaper’s Books of the Day.

The Women In the Room: Labour’s Forgotten History, was published in 2018. You can find out more about both books here, including how to order them. 

If you would like me to speak to your group or organisation about Margaret Bondfield please use the contact form. I can do events either in person or virtually, depending on what works for both of us.

More details about me and my work can be found here.