Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl

The Duchess of Atholl
Member of Parliament
In office
6 December 1923  28 November 1938
Preceded byJames Gardiner
Succeeded byWilliam McNair Snadden
ConstituencyKinross and West Perthshire
Personal details
Born
Katharine Marjory Ramsay

6 November 1874
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died21 October 1960(1960-10-21) (aged 85)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyScottish Unionist Party
SpouseJohn Stewart-Murray, 8th Duke of Atholl
ParentSir James Henry Ramsay, 10th Baronet
Alma materRoyal College of Music

Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, DBE (née Ramsay; 6 November 1874 – 21 October 1960), known as the Marchioness of Tullibardine from 1899 to 1917, was a Scottish noblewoman and Scottish Unionist Party politician. She was the first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Scotland, despite having campaigned against women's suffrage before it was granted in 1918. She was the first woman to serve in a British Conservative government. She later found herself at odds with her party and resigned the Whip in 1935 over the India Bill. She became strongly anti-fascist in the 1930s and criticised authoritarian regimes in Soviet Russia, Italy and Spain as well as Nazi Germany. She was given the nickname 'Red Duchess' for these views.