Mary Mercer

Born in Newport, Shropshire, her father died when she was three. Despite her limited schooling, Mercer worked as a housekeeper,[1] trained as a nurse and then worked in Belfast as a district visitor. While there, she met and married a Labour Party activist and journalist in 1912. In 1914 they moved to the Wirral and had a family. She died in 1945 and is buried in Flaybrick cemetery, Birkenhead.

Mercer became active in the Labour Party (UK) when she moved to the Wirral.[2][3]

Mercer was elected to Birkenhead Town Council in 1919, representing Argyle ward.[2] In 1924, she was elected as Mayor of Birkenhead, the first woman to hold the post, and also the first Labour Party member to hold the post.[4][5] While in office, she unveiled Birkenhead War Memorial. She moved to become the town's first woman alderman in 1926, serving until 1932, when she returned to representing Argyle until 1945.[2]

Mercer stood in Liverpool Fairfield at the 1924 United Kingdom general election, taking second place with 37.1% of the vote. She next stood in Birkenhead East at the 1935 United Kingdom general election, when she took 23.3% of the vote, and only third place.[6][7]

Mercer also served as a magistrate from 1929.[4]

Plaque on Mercer's former home

Mercer Road in Prenton (previously the local government Bidston and St James Ward) is named after her. She was commemorated in 2018 with a blue plaque on 103 Norman Street, Birkenhead where she once lived. A portrait of her as Mayor by Maude Hall Neale is displayed in the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.[2]