Bessie Le Cras, election agent

This note confirms the appointment of Bessie Le Cras as Counting Agent for Nancy Astor in the Plymouth Sutton by-election of November 1919. The printed text allows for the possibility of a woman MP, but clearly the authorities in Plymouth did not expect there to be a female counting agent, as the note refers twice to 'Sir', which has been crossed out and replaced by 'Madam'. Le Cras would have been a rare example of a woman election agent in this period.