Margaret Bondfield was a woman of many 'firsts': the first woman British government minister, the first in the Cabinet and the first to be President of the Trade Union Congress. She was also a pioneer of women's social, political, workplace rights. As a member of the Labour government of 1929-31 her political career ended in controversy, and since then her reputation has been a source of further dispute. This book examines her life from its humble origins in Somerset, through her work in the Shop Assistant's Union, to her later campaigning and political work, as well as her extensive foreign travel and efforts to create closer social democratic links. While taking a balanced view of Bondfield's strengths and weaknesses, the book aims to restore her reputation as a pioneer of women's rights in Britain.