Guest post by Amy Galvin-Elliott Historically, women have had a contentious relationship with the Houses of Parliament, and their access to and interaction with the spaces of Parliament provides an illuminating co-narrative to their journey towards enfranchisement. The Vote 100 project is a really exciting opportunity to recreate and try to imagine some of the... Continue Reading →
Guest post by Oonagh Gay On 1 May 1997 120 women MPs were elected; exactly double the number elected in 1992 and representing 18.2 per cent of all MPs, 71 of these MPs were new. For House of Commons Library staff, suddenly, it was no longer a rarity to meet a woman MP. Previously, it... Continue Reading →
Guest post by Sumita Mukherjee The 1918 Representation of the People Act, which enfranchised some British women over 30, had a broader impact beyond the British Isles. In commemorating the centenary of this Act, it will be important to acknowledge some of the broader geographical legacies of this suffrage victory. Many British suffragettes and suffragists... Continue Reading →
On 24 March 2017, Dame Margaret Beckett MP became the longest serving female MP, serving for 38 years and 128 days, in two separate periods. Margaret Beckett (or Margaret Jackson, as she then was) was first elected as the MP for Lincoln at the general election held on 10 October 1974. She lost her seat at... Continue Reading →
Guest post by Robin Fell The Grille in the House of Commons Ladies’ Gallery, preventing as it did all but a distorted view of proceedings in The Chamber, had always been unpopular and during the ‘Suffragette Years’ was the focus of much anger. Two suffragettes became quite attached to it – but with chains rather... Continue Reading →
‘The lady Liberal agent’: Bertha Fischer (1875-1920) and Ellen Pocock (1854-1943) Guest post by Kathryn Rix In July 1902 the ‘Ladies’ Column’ of the Dundee Evening Telegraph ran an article on ‘Novel professions for women’, featuring ‘The lady Liberal agent’, Bertha Bowness Fischer. She had recently passed the professional examination held by the Society of... Continue Reading →
One hundred years ago, votes for women gained support in Parliament thanks to Speaker James Lowther. 'I endeavoured to push off the burning question of women's suffrage as long as I could.' (Speaker Lowther, 'A Speaker's Commentaries') Speaker James W Lowther was remembering a Conference on electoral reform which discussed and then recommended votes for... Continue Reading →
From 16 December 2016 Harriet Harman QC MP will hold the record for the longest continuous service as a woman MP in the House of Commons. Harriet Harman was first elected at a by-election on 28 October 1982. She has been an MP for 34 years and 49 days. She was elected in Peckham in 1982,... Continue Reading →
Guest post by Denise Jones Recently Lockdales the auctioneers in Suffolk, very kindly sent me an image of objects belonging to the suffragette Mary Aldham, which were sold at auction in September 2015. Included in the cache were a small sampler and bag, both embroidered in Holloway c. 1912. It is likely that the embroideries... Continue Reading →
