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, looks at the main political parties and their attitudes towards female suffrage.
The female suffrage movement is well-known for its campaigns and persistent fight for the vote. However, the passing of the Representation of the People Act meant that some women were given the right to vote and the main three political parties (Conservative, Liberal and Labour) realised they had to convince them to support them, whether they’d agreed with female suffrage or not. So, how did politicians use the issue of female suffrage to gain votes in the 1918 general election?
From the beginning, the Labour Party fought for the idea of universal suffrage. This meant they believed that female voters would develop the economic and social reforms they wanted, so they supported the movement. However, the Conservatives had very anti-suffrage ideas, but because of the number of working men that were sure to get the vote after the First World War, they knew they would lose votes if they didn’t get enough support from the wealthy which made them support the idea of only rich women getting the vote. Meanwhile, the Liberals had shown their opinion by dropping a Conciliation Bill which would have given women the vote in 1912 instead. This made the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) stop their alliance with the Liberal Party and begin to work closely with the Labour Party, which strengthened their ties with the working class.
Herbert Henry Asquith was a significant figure against the fight for female suffrage. He was born on 12th September 1852 in Yorkshire into a strictly liberal household and had a good education throughout his childhood. It was during this time that he found his passion for ethics and politics. Asquith became Prime Minister in 1905 but was strongly against women gaining the vote, so a lot of the suffragettes’ campaigns were aimed at him.
George Lansbury was the Labour Party leader and was born 1859 in Suffolk. He devoted his life to working for socialism through politics and journalism. He served on Poplar Borough Council from 1900 until his death, twice being Mayor. He succeeded Ramsey MacDonald as leader of the Labour Party in 1931 but resigned in 1935. He was a huge advocate for female suffrage and often showed this by attending conferences and delivering speeches at their events
Lord Curzon was the leader of the House of Lords and had strong opinions against female suffrage. He said:
“the passage of the [Representation of the People] Bill would be the ruin of the country; women were politically worthless and the whole idea of the Women’s Movement was disastrous and wrong.”[1]
The Conservatives recognised they needed to give working men the vote as appreciation for their service in the First World War; however, they were worried this would increase Labour support as many of them were likely to vote for Labour. To try to gain more support too, they wanted to give the vote to rich women, who would be more inclined to vote for them. However, the suffragists had received continuous assistance from the Labour party and had formed strong ties with them, so they weren’t unquestionably going to vote Conservative.
The Representation of the People Act, which was passed on 6th February 1918, meant that 21.4 million people were eligible to vote. Of those, 8.5 million were women which represented around 40% of all adult women. Although this wasn’t the universal suffrage many had hoped for, it was a step in the right direction, particularly as it changed people’s views on women. By allowing the vote to be extended, Parliament had essentially said that women could be trusted with the responsibility of having a say in how the country was run. Additionally, the new voters could impact which party won, and that had been a previous concern for all parties, so it was interesting to see how the parties changed their propaganda to include a new set of people. Before the election had even taken place, there were various guesses as to which parties would gain support from the extended franchise. Mrs Fawcett, who was the President of NUWSS, said that the suffrage movement had always had a strong association with the Labour Party because it was the only party in the House that supported them.
In conclusion, each of the three main political parties had different views on female suffrage before women were granted the right to vote; the Conservatives only wanted wealthy women to have the vote; the Liberals thought it would be politically disastrous for them; Labour fully supported the movement and showed it. Certain political figures made it harder for female suffrage to be granted (such as Herbert Henry Asquith and Lord Curzon) whilst others encouraged their ideas (George Lansbury). But when the 1918 election came around, all of the main political parties worked hard to gain female voters’ support.
By Iria Rodriguez. Iria is a Year 11 pupil at Cambourne Village College and is currently studying for her GCSEs.
[1] Joyce Marlow, Suffragettes: The Fight for Votes for Women (2015).
