“It has come to a battle between the women and the government as to who shall yield first, whether they will yield and give us the vote, or whether we will give up our agitation.”
– Emmeline Pankhurst, Freedom or Death
Initial Franchise
With the Qualification of Women clause in the Representation of the People Act (1918), women over 30 who met property requirements finally won the vote.
"A women shall be entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency (other than a university constituency) if she - |
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At Last!, 1918, Punch |
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Nancy Astor, 1908, Housego & Storey, The Women's Suffrage Movement |
The act also enabled women to serve in Parliament. Elected in 1919, Nancy Astor was the first woman to serve in the House of Commons. She was re-elected seven times.
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Further Success
The 1928 Representation of the People Act extended women's suffrage to women over 21. The voting requirements were changed to be the same as those for men.
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Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, 1928, Parliament.uk |
"A person shall be entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector for a constituency (other than a university constituency), if he or she is of full age [21] and not subject to any legal incapacity; and |
“The Act of 1928, which swept away the absurd restrictions of 1917, came virtually without effort. |
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The Die-Hard, 1928, Punch |