the start, they eventually worked in harmony and shared an essentially social class based approach to women's emancipation and both were later Labour MPs together in 1929 (Bondfield having briefly been an MP in 1924)." Speaking on the need for adequate bathing and washing facilities in new housing projects, Phillips remarked: "If Labour councillors will not support us on this demand, we shall have to cry a halt on all municipal housing until we have replaced all Labour men by Labour women". Addressing women in Hartlepool, she emphasised, "There is still a lot of educating to do and we are going to begin by educating ourselves". As Chief Woman Officer of the Labour Party, she reportedly gave women extra confidence to engage in politics, and by 1925, the Women's Section was firmly established. At the 1929 general election, Phillips was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunderland. The 1929 'flapper election' was the first in which women under the age of 30 were eligible to vote. In July 1928, Phillips wrote to all women in the Sunderland constituency, stating that 'FOR WOMEN ESPECIALLY, THIS NEXT ELECTION WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE IN 1929 IS VERY IMPORTANT'. She lost the 1931 election, and in 1932 died of stomach cancer, aged 50. Phillips was the first Jewish, and thus first non-Christian woman MP. Nonetheless, she was also an atheist. In September 2019, a plaque was unveiled at 18 Foyle Street, the site of the Sunderland Labour Party's former Committee Rooms. It reads "Sunderland's first woman MP had an office here 1929-1931. Activist and academic, she lobbied for the rights of woman and working people. The Labour Party's Chief Woman Officer (1918-1932)". References External links https://web.archive.org/web/20050130200035/http://www.ialhi.org/gender/lhasc-phillips.doc 1881 births 1932 deaths Jewish Australian politicians Jewish British politicians Australian people of English-Jewish descent Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 Alumni of the London School of Economics People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne Deaths from stomach cancer Australian emigrants to England Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian scientists Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century British women politicians Australian atheists British atheists Jewish atheists Jewish women politicians Members of the Fabian Society Politicians from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni