Norma Edwards

{{Short description|Falkland Islands politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| term_end = 17 November 2005

| honorific-suffix = OBE

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| office = Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council
for Camp

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| name = Norma Edwards

| predecessor =

| successor = Richard Stevens

| office1 = Member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council
for Stanley

| term_start1 = 3 October 1985

| term_end1 = 1987

| predecessor1 =

| successor1 = Terry Betts

| birth_date =

| term_start = 12 October 1989

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| nationality = Falkland Islander

| party = Nonpartisan

| spouse = Roger Edwards

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| children = Emma, Rebecca

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}}

Norma Edwards OBE is a Falkland Islands politician. She served for two decades on the Falkland Islands Legislative Council{{Cite web|title=Norma Edwards OBE|url=https://www.fiassociation.com/article/1565/norma_edwards_obe|access-date=2020-09-17|website=The Falkland Islands Association|language=en-gb}} and has been described as a "noted hard-liner" in opposition to Argentine control of the islands.{{Cite web|title=Argentine architects hope for early Memorial siteing.|url=https://en.mercopress.com/2001/05/31/argentine-architects-hope-for-early-memorial-siteing|access-date=2020-09-17|website=MercoPress|language=en}}

Edwards is a native Falkland Islander, the fourth generation born on the islands.{{Cite web|last=Cockwell|first=Jenny|title=Our Islands, Our Home|url=http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/SAC/FALKLAND/OI-OHOME.PDF|website=Falkland Islands Government}} She pursued her early schooling there before leaving for the United Kingdom, where she trained as a nurse. She lived for a time in Portsmouth, England, where her daughters Emma and Rebecca were born, before returning to the Falklands with her family after the 1982 war.{{Cite web|title=Hon. Emma Edwards|url=http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Emma_Edwards.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216184650/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Emma_Edwards.html|archive-date=2010-12-16|website=The Falkland Islands Government}}

She was first elected to the Falkland Islands Legislative Council to represent Stanley in 1985, the first election after the islands' 1985 constitution came into force."FI Gazette LEC/20/8". Jane Cameron National Archives. 1985. She resigned from that post in 1987,"News in Brief" (PDF) (90). Penguin News. 30 January 1987: 11. and in 1989 she returned to the council as a representative of the Camp constituency, a position she held until her retirement in 2005."Penguin News". Jane Cameron National Archives. 13 October 1989.{{Cite web|title=Royal Honour for Falklands' Champion|url=https://en.mercopress.com/2006/06/17/royal-honour-for-falklands-champion|access-date=2020-09-17|website=MercoPress|language=en}}

Edwards has advocated in favor of the Falkland Islands' right to self-determination, in opposition to Argentina's claim to the islands.{{Cite web|date=1999-03-21|title=Letter: Proudly British|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-proudly-british-1082181.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-proudly-british-1082181.html |archive-date=2022-06-21 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-17|website=The Independent|language=en}} She was a fierce opponent of the 1999 Anglo-Argentine joint agreement and offered testimony to the United Nations in favor of the British side of the dispute.{{Cite web|title=SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON DECOLONIZATION REITERATES CALL ON ARGENTINA, UNITED KINGDOM TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON FALKLANDS/MALVINAS ISSUE {{!}} Meetings Coverage and Press Releases|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2002/GACOL3067.doc.htm|access-date=2020-09-17|website=www.un.org}}

Her husband, Roger Edwards, whom she married in 1970, is a current member of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly. The couple has lived on and run a farm on West Falkland since 1986.{{Cite web|title=Hon. Roger Edwards|url=http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Roger_Edwards.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216184532/http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assembly/Hon._Roger_Edwards.html|archive-date=2010-12-16|website=The Falkland Islands Government}} Her daughter Emma Edwards also served on the Legislative Assembly from 2009 until 2011. Her younger daughter, Rebecca, is the first-ever female physician from the Falklands.

Edwards was awarded the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 Birthday Honours for "services to the community."{{Cite news|date=2006-06-17|title=Birthday Honours List — United Kingdom|work=The London Gazette|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58014/data.pdf}}