Kathleen Margaret Midwinter

Kathleen "Kay" Margaret Midwinter became Kathleen Midwinter-Vergin (6 March 1909 – 6 August 1995) was a British secretary at the League of Nations who became the first female clerk in the House of Commons and went on to be a United Nations official.

Life Midwinter was born in Wednesbury in 1909.

She joined the League of Nations secretariat in 1930 when she was 21. She put her success in obtaining the job down to her ability with French, passing exams, gaining diplomas and her good looks. She remembered her work at the League of Nations as including research, statistical work, minute-writing, committee procedure and summarising speeches delivered in English and French.

In 1940 the League of Nations suspended its staff and Midwinter returned to the UK where she applied for work at the House of Commons Her nine years experience at the League of Nations meant that she was successful, and made newspaper stories as the first woman to be appointed a "temporary" clerk. She was first assigned to assist an existing clerk to a select committee but she was given her own committee in April 1941. In 1942 she had an additional task which was to clerk a small sub-committee of women MPs that was looking at women's medical services. She was working for Irene Ward and Joan Davidson who sat on the main National Expenditure Committee. Midwinter impressed Ward and Davidson as she moved their report forward, calling in witnesses, handling correspondence and dealing with government departments. Ward and Davidson returned the favour by championing her pay which was well below her male peers. Midwinter was also present in the House of Commons during some of Winston Churchill's great war speeches, and remembered he used to glare at her.