Manning, (Elizabeth) Leah (1886–1977)

British Labour politician. She was a member of Parliament in the Labour governments of 1929–31 and 1945–50, and a champion of the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). Her publications include What I Saw in Spain (1933), in which she strongly advocated a policy of nonintervention, and her autobiography, A Life for Education (1970). She was created DBE in 1966.

Manning was born in Rockford, Illinois. She was strongly influenced by the legend of her great-grandmother (by marriage), the Methodist philanthropist Susan Tappin, who worked among the poor of London's East End. Manning initially trained as a teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge, where she also became involved with the Fabian Society.