A PLAQUE was erected in Cambridge to commemorate the dedicated work of Dame Leah Manning, who much later in her life served as the Labour MP for Epping (covering Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Epping, Harlow and the surrounding villages) 1945 – 50.

Leah Manning trained as a teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge, and afterwards taught at New Street School, attended by many poverty-stricken children for whose welfare she campaigned. She was a pioneer for school milk and meals.

She was chosen President of the National Union of Teachers and was briefly elected to Parliament for Islington in 1931. In the 1930s she brought over a large number of Basque children from Bilbao to save them from being bombed in the Spanish Civil War, and some were boarded at the former Wansfell College in Theydon Bois.

Stan Newens, Labour MP for Epping 1964-70 and for Harlow 1974-83 unveiled the plaque, which will be affixed to the former New Street School. Mr. Newens, who was, in effect, Mrs. Manning’s successor, described her as a fighter who committed her life to the betterment of conditions for all. Even after devoted work as the Labour MP for Epping she returned to teaching and promoting the causes that she believed in for as long as her strength lasted.