Margaret Aitken

Margaret Aitken
Member of Parliament for York—Humber
In office 1953 – 1962
Preceded by	new district
Succeeded by	Ralph Cowan

Born	July 3, 1908 Newcastle, New Brunswick
Died	November 19, 1980
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Occupation	journalist

Margaret Aitken (July 3, 1908 – November 19, 1980) was a Canadian author, columnist, journalist, and politician.

Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, the daughter of J. Mauns Aitken (the brother of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook), she started with the Toronto Telegram in 1938 and was a foreign correspondent. In the 1953 federal election, she was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the riding of York—Humber as the Progressive Conservative candidate, winning by 67 votes. Along with Sybil Bennett, Ellen Fairclough and Ann Shipley, she was one of four women elected to the House of Commons that year, only the second election in Canadian history in which more than one woman was elected to Parliament.

She was re-elected in 1957 and 1958. She was defeated in 1962 by 662 votes.

In 1953, she wrote a book Hey Ma! I Did It (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company) about her campaign.