Margaret Grace Bondfield, CH, PC (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour politician, trades unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor, when she was appointed Minister of Labour in the Labour government of 1929–31. She had earlier become the first woman to chair the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).Bondfield was born in humble circumstances and received limited formal education.