In this series of blog posts we are showcasing the work from GCSE and A-Level students who have worked with the Citizens Project to research and write blog posts on key moments of protest and reform throughout British history. In this blog post Iria Rodriguez, a pupil at Cambourne Village College, tells us about the first female MPs.
The women who managed to get the vote in 1918 through the Representation of the People Act and the ability to stand for election through the Qualification of Women Act had a significant impact on politics in Britain. These Acts allowed women like Constance Markievicz and Nancy Astor to become the first female MPs and, despite the challenges, change laws to make men and women equal in all aspects of life.
The Qualification of Women Act in 1918 allowed women to become MPs. It stated that women weren’t disqualified by sex or marriage from sitting or voting as members of the House of Commons. This Act didn’t have the same restrictions the Representation of the People Act had in the sense that it did not say women needed to be over 30 or own property over £5. This meant that female MPs could be elected with the same standard as men. This meant that while a woman, regardless of her property ownership over the age of 21 could stand for election, she couldn’t necessarily vote. However, these new female MPs still faced challenges because many people’s opinion on women getting involved in politics was still largely negative.
The first woman to be elected into the House of Commons was Constance Markievicz in the general election of 1918. She was a member of the political party Sinn Fein (who refused to take their seats in protest over the issue of Home Rule), so despite Constance being the first woman to be elected, she didn’t actually make it to Westminster. Instead, it was Nancy Astor who was the first to take her seat in the House of Commons after a by-election in 1919. With the help of her husband (who was part of the Conservative party), Nancy was made an MP despite the disapproval from other MPs. Even the Conservative party chairman, Sir George Younger, complained about her candidacy, saying:
‘the worst of it is, the woman is sure to get in’.[1]
Female MPs in Westminster had difficult day-to-day lives. Being elected as a female MP in the House of Commons was a huge achievement in itself as it was incredibly difficult for them to gain support because of the idea that women were incapable of being involved in politics. Even if they gained enough support to be elected they didn’t have an easy job once they reached Westminster. From being undermined to being given the more domestic tasks, women had to constantly fight for respect and a chance to have an input. The prejudice inside the House of Commons was clear, not only from other male MPs but from the newspapers that criticised their every decision and the reporters that only asked questions about their clothing.
When female MPs were finally allowed in Parliament, it added a new perspective. For the first time, women felt represented and understood. Female MPs often got letters from women of all classes who had concerns which lead to discussions about women’s rights in Parliament. Conversations about issues such as widows’ pensions, equal employment, women police officers, the age of consent and prostitution became more common in Parliament. Nancy Astor even tried to create and lead a women’s party after the general election of 1929, when she tried to co-ordinate the efforts of the fourteen women members in Parliament. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful, but the idea of women being capable of being involved in politics without the help of men quickly spread.
During the interwar years, 37 female MPs had a seat in Parliament. This included fifteen Conservative female MPs, four Liberal female MPs, sixteen Labour female MPs, one Sinn Fein female MP (who did not take her seat) and one Independent female MP. In 1945, the number of female MPs in the House of Commons rose to 24 in a single general election.
In conclusion, once women were given a chance to take part in politics, they used their position and experience to change women’s lives for the better. Early female MPs were the first ones to break the stereotypes around women’s ability to be in politics: Markievicz was the first female MP (1918); Lady Astor was the first female MP to take her seat (1919) and Betty Boothroyd was the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (1992). In 1987 Diane Abbot became the first black female MP to be elected to the House of Commons and in 2008 Gwyneth Dunwoody died in service being the longest-serving woman MP with 38 years in Parliament. These women have challenged social norms and fought against those that tried to stop them from achieving their goals. They carved the path for women’s rights, not just in politics, but in every aspect of daily life. By having a more diverse Parliament, the female perspective was finally heard, and women were able to have a say in the laws that impacted them and their lives. Due to the female MPs in Parliament, women’s issues like the provision of nursery schools and the maternal mortality rates were dealt with and men and women were put on an equal footing – in the eyes of the law at least.
Bibliography:
- Suffragettes ‘in trousers’ (National Archives)
- Gallery 3 Suffrage Case Studies (British Library)
- ‘Votes for women’ edited by Joyce Marlow
- https://www.parliament.uk/
[1] https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/nancy-astor-the-first-lady-of-british-politics/
By Iria Rodriguez. Iria is a Year 11 pupil at Cambourne Village College and is currently studying for her GCSEs.
