Candy atherton

Politics

1955 - 2017

Suggested by Jayne Kirkham and Louise Coley

Jayne and Louise write: “Candy was the first woman to be elected on an all women shortlist and was the only Labour MP in Cornwall within 50 years. Candy knew how to get things done, make change. She achieved much for Cornwall, including Objective One funding.

Candy moved to Cornwall in the mid-90s and represented it with all her heart - in parliament, at Cornwall Council and at Falmouth Town Council. She was a forceful character and a strong feminist who encouraged other women to enter politics including both of us!”

Jayne Kirkham is MP for Falmouth and Truro
Louise Coley is a Falmouth Town Councillor

From wikipedia: Atherton served the Labour Party in London and as an MP in Wiltshire before moving to Cornwall. In London she led protests within the Labour Party and the CND movement against the Task Force sent to the Falkland Islands, chaired the Women’s and Disability Committees and was Mayor for a year in the London borough of Islington.

In the mid 90’s Atherton ran for Falmouth and Camborne. The local Labour Party had imposed the first all-women shortlist in the country. Such shortlists were subsequently ruled unlawful, but she remained as candidate for the 1997 general election. Atherton was elected as MP, holding the seat until 2005. Her victory made her Cornwall’s first Labour MP since 1970 and first female MP since the 1920s.

Atherton doubled her majority in 2001 having worked alongside others to achieve European Objective One status for Cornwall, the National Minimum Wage Act, and to support the development of a university in Cornwall. She campaigned to open a Minor Injuries Unit in Camborne Redruth Community Hospital and to expose the nerve gas station at Nancekuke.

In 2005, Atherton lost her seat to Julia Goldsworthy, LibDem, but continued to campaign for women’s political advancement, disability rights and rural housing reform until her death.
⁠
@jaynekirkham
@falmouthtowncouncil