Nancy Astor

Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, née Langhorne (1879 - 1964), was an American-born society hostess and politician.

Married American Waldorf Astor in 1906, and resided at Cliveden, Buckinghamshire. Lady Astor was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom on November 28, 1919, which made her the first female member of that institution. Entered the UK Parliament as Member of Parliament for Plymouth (Sutton) on that December 1 and retained the seat until 1945. She attracted much attention as she was the first woman member to actually take her seat, since the first elected female member in 1918, Constance Markiewicz, had chosen not to take her seat. Her political popularity was adversely affected during the 1930s since she was in favour of the appeasement of Nazi Germany, and a central member of the Cliveden Set.