Women’s Right to Vote in the United Kingdom
Women’s Day UK / July 2, (1928)
When did women get the right to vote in the UK?
The struggle for women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom represents one of the most significant and hard-fought political campaigns in British history. Unlike some other nations where women’s voting rights were granted in a single legislative act, the UK’s path to women’s suffrage was incremental, marked by decades of persistent activism, fierce resistance, and gradual progress. This article explores the complex journey toward women’s enfranchisement in Britain, highlighting the pivotal dates, key figures, and the broader social context that shaped this vital democratic movement.
The Landmark Dates: February 6, 1918 and July 2, 1928
The question of when British women gained the right to vote has two important answers:
February 6, 1918: The Representation of the People Act received Royal Assent, granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications or were married to men who did. This represented approximately 8.4 million women (about 40% of the total adult female population).
July 2, 1928: The Equal Franchise Act (sometimes called the Second Representation of the People Act) received Royal Assent, finally granting women electoral equality with men. This act lowered the voting age for women to 21, the same as men, without property qualifications, enfranchising all adult women in the UK.
The first election in which some women could vote was the general election of December 14, 1918. The first election with equal voting rights for women was the general election of May 30, 1929, often referred to as the “Flapper Election” due to the new young women voters.
The Early Movement: Seeds of Suffrage (1832-1897)
The women’s suffrage movement in Britain has deep roots stretching back to the early 19th century:
Early Pioneers and Initial Demands
- 1832: The Great Reform Act explicitly used the word “male,” legally excluding women from voting for the first time
- 1866: The first women’s suffrage petition was presented to Parliament by John Stuart Mill, with 1,499 signatures
- 1867: The National Society for Women’s Suffrage was formed, the first organized suffrage group
- 1869: Municipal Franchise Act allowed some women to vote in local elections, but not parliamentary elections
Notable Early Advocates
Lydia Becker (1827-1890): A scientist and suffrage leader who founded the Women’s Suffrage Journal and led the movement in its early years, focusing on constitutional methods.
Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929): A key suffragist who would later lead the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, advocating for peaceful, legal campaigning.
Barbara Bodichon (1827-1891): Co-founded the first women’s suffrage committee and authored the 1866 petition to Parliament.
The Constitutional Approach: The NUWSS (1897-1918)
In 1897, various regional women’s suffrage societies united to form the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) under the leadership of Millicent Garrett Fawcett. The NUWSS became the largest suffrage organization in Britain, with over 50,000 members by 1914.
The NUWSS advocated for women’s suffrage through:
- Petitioning
- Lobbying MPs
- Public meetings and lectures
- Letter-writing campaigns
- Peaceful demonstrations
- Supporting pro-suffrage political candidates
Fawcett’s approach was characterized by her belief that “steady, persistent pressure” would win the day. The NUWSS sought to persuade through reason rather than confrontation, believing that demonstrating women’s rational capabilities would strengthen their case for political equality.
The Militant Approach: The WSPU (1903-1914)
Growing frustrated with the slow progress of constitutional methods, Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and her daughters Christabel (1880-1958) and Sylvia (1882-1960) founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. Their motto—”Deeds, Not Words”—reflected their more confrontational strategy.
The WSPU’s militant tactics escalated over time:
- 1905: First arrests of suffragettes for disrupting political meetings
- 1908: Large-scale demonstrations and attempts to enter Parliament
- 1909: Hunger strikes began when imprisoned suffragettes demanded political prisoner status
- 1909-1910: Forcible feeding of hunger-striking prisoners authorized by the government
- 1911-1913: Escalation to property destruction, including window-breaking campaigns and arson
- 1913: The “Cat and Mouse Act” allowed authorities to release hunger-striking prisoners when weak and re-arrest them when recovered
- 1913: Emily Wilding Davison fatally injured herself by stepping in front of the King’s horse at the Derby
The WSPU suspended militant action with the outbreak of World War I in 1914, focusing instead on supporting the war effort.
Key WSPU Figures
Emmeline Pankhurst: The charismatic leader who became the face of militant suffragism both in Britain and internationally.
Christabel Pankhurst: The chief strategist of the WSPU who directed campaigns from exile in Paris after 1912.
Emily Wilding Davison (1872-1913): Known for her extreme militancy and ultimately for her fatal protest at the 1913 Derby.
Annie Kenney (1879-1953): One of the few working-class women in WSPU leadership, who helped expand the movement beyond middle-class circles.
Flora Drummond (1878-1949): Known as “The General” for her role in organizing WSPU demonstrations.
Working-Class Women and the Suffrage Movement
While leadership of both the NUWSS and WSPU was predominantly middle and upper-class, working-class women made significant contributions to the suffrage movement:
Selina Cooper (1864-1946): A former mill worker who became a key NUWSS organizer in the North West, collecting over 800 signatures for the 1902 suffrage petition.
Hannah Mitchell (1872-1956): A self-educated domestic servant who became a prominent suffragette and later a Labour politician.
Mary Macarthur (1880-1921): A trade unionist who formed the National Federation of Women Workers and supported suffrage while prioritizing economic rights for working women.
The Women’s Labour League and East London Federation of Suffragettes (led by Sylvia Pankhurst) specifically focused on involving working-class women in the suffrage movement, emphasizing how the vote could help address economic injustice.
World War I and the Path to Partial Suffrage
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 dramatically changed the landscape of the suffrage movement:
- The WSPU suspended militant activities and actively supported the war effort
- The NUWSS was divided, with pacifist members resigning while others supported the war
- Women took on traditionally male jobs in munitions factories, transportation, and agriculture
- Women’s vital contributions to the war effort weakened arguments against their political participation
By 1916, the government began considering electoral reform, recognizing that the pre-war voting system would be inadequate for the post-war era. Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, formerly an anti-suffragist, changed his position and supported limited women’s suffrage.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 represented a political compromise—granting the vote to:
- All men over 21 (and servicemen aged 19-21)
- Women over 30 who met property qualifications or were married to men who did
The age and property restrictions were designed to prevent women from becoming a majority of the electorate, reflecting continued anxiety about women’s influence on politics.
The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918
In November 1918, just after the Armistice, legislation was passed allowing women to stand for Parliament. The first election with women voters in December 1918 also saw the first woman candidate: Countess Constance Markievicz, who won a seat for Sinn Féin but did not take it due to the party’s abstentionist policy.
The first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons was Nancy Astor, who won a by-election in Plymouth in November 1919.
The Final Push: From Partial to Equal Suffrage (1918-1928)
After 1918, women’s organizations continued to campaign for equal franchise. The main groups working toward this goal were:
- The National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship (NUSEC), formerly the NUWSS, led by Eleanor Rathbone after Millicent Fawcett’s retirement
- The Six Point Group, founded by Lady Rhondda in 1921
- The Women’s Freedom League, a WSPU splinter group that remained active after the war
These organizations continued to lobby Parliament and mobilize public opinion. Conservative politician William Bull introduced a private member’s bill for equal franchise in 1920, though it did not pass.
The election of a Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin in 1924 initially seemed a setback, but Baldwin proved unexpectedly supportive of women’s equality. When the Conservative government introduced the Equal Franchise Act in 1928, it passed with relatively little controversy. On July 2, 1928, all British women gained equal voting rights with men.
Legacy and Impact
The achievement of women’s suffrage in Britain had far-reaching consequences:
Political Impact
- Women voters helped shape interwar British politics, with parties adapting their platforms to appeal to women
- The Labour Party particularly benefited from women voters in working-class districts
- Women began to enter Parliament, though progress was slow (only 38 women MPs were elected between 1918 and 1945)
Social Impact
- The suffrage campaign helped normalize women’s participation in public life
- Networks formed during suffrage campaigns evolved into new women’s organizations advocating for social reforms
- The movement provided organizational models and tactics for later social justice movements
International Impact
- British suffragists, especially the Pankhursts, influenced suffrage movements worldwide
- British colonial territories gradually adopted women’s suffrage, though often with racial restrictions
- The British example was cited in both positive and negative ways by suffrage movements in other countries
The Suffrage Movement in Historical Context
The women’s suffrage movement in Britain was shaped by broader historical and social factors:
- Industrialization and changing women’s roles: As women entered industrial work and professions, traditional arguments against their political participation weakened
- Liberal political philosophy: Ideals of individual rights and representative government provided theoretical foundations for women’s claims
- Empire and race: The movement primarily focused on white British women, often sidelining colonial subjects’ concerns
- Class tensions: Divisions between working-class and middle-class priorities complicated organizing efforts
- World War I: The war created both practical and symbolic opportunities to demonstrate women’s citizenship
Suffrage in the Broader United Kingdom
The 1918 and 1928 Representation of the People Acts applied to the entire United Kingdom, including Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (after its creation in 1921). However, there were significant regional variations in the suffrage movement:
Scotland had active suffrage organizations, with the Scottish Federation of Women’s Suffrage Societies coordinating efforts across the country. Notable Scottish suffragists included Flora Drummond and Dr. Elsie Inglis, who founded the Scottish Women’s Hospitals during WWI.
Wales saw strong connections between suffrage, nonconformist religion, and Welsh nationalism. The first Welsh woman MP, Megan Lloyd George, was elected in 1929 following the equal franchise act.
Ireland (before partition) had a complex suffrage movement often intertwined with nationalist politics. The Irish Women’s Franchise League, founded by Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Margaret Cousins in 1908, used militant tactics inspired by the WSPU but maintained independence from British organizations.
Looking Forward
The achievement of women’s suffrage in the United Kingdom came through a combination of persistent constitutional pressure, militant direct action, changing social attitudes, and the transformative impact of World War I. From the first limited voting rights granted on February 6, 1918, to full electoral equality on July 2, 1928, the campaign spanned generations and required enormous sacrifice and determination.
The women who led this movement—from the constitutional approach of Millicent Fawcett to the militant tactics of Emmeline Pankhurst, from working-class organizers like Selina Cooper to aristocratic supporters like Lady Rhondda—represented diverse strategies and backgrounds united by the conviction that democracy could not be complete without women’s full participation.
Today, over a century after women first cast their ballots in a British general election, the suffrage movement stands as a powerful reminder of how democratic rights must often be demanded rather than freely given, and how persistent collective action can ultimately overcome entrenched resistance to change. The struggle for women’s voting rights in the United Kingdom remains one of history’s most important examples of how determined citizens can transform their political systems in the pursuit of greater equality.
Why Britain Has No Women’s Equality Day
Aug 26, 2016
by Sam Smethers
Sam Smethers is the Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, a British gender equality group, named after Millicent Fawcett, a British advocate of the right of women to vote who died in 1929.
Friday, Aug. 26, is Women’s Equality Day in the U.S. It commemorates the signing into law of the Women’s Suffrage Amendment in 1920. We don’t mark a date for women’s suffrage in the U.K. Yet there are several possible dates. On June 7, 1866, the long journey to women’s votes began with the presentation of the first petition to Parliament. Feb. 6, 1918, is the date of the first extension of suffrage to some women, and 10 years later on July 2, 1928, we see the granting of universal suffrage. So why don’t we celebrate any of these dates as a national day here?
It is a difficult question to answer, but I think part of it lies in the invisibility of women in our history even after they were finally given voting rights. We will let you vote but drawing attention to it, well, that’s a bit unseemly, isn’t it? Celebrating women’s suffrage as a national day would mean conceding that the participation of women in our democracy isn’t only about women’s rights and voices but the greater well-being and good of our society. Something we should all celebrate. As Millicent Fawcett herself said, “Justice and freedom for women are things worth securing not only for their own sakes but for civilisation itself.”
› time.com/womens-equality-day-britain/
.ukparliament
The modern campaign to secure the right to vote for women began in the mid-19th century.
This aim was partially achieved with the Representation of the People Act 1918, which allowed some women over the age of 30 to vote in national elections.
The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act followed later the same year and allowed women to stand as Members of Parliament. It was not until the Equal Franchise Act was passed in 1928 that women won the same voting rights as men.
Those campaigning peacefully for women’s suffrage were called suffragists. From the early 20th century some women who pursued militant methods of campaigning were known by the initially derogatory term ‘suffragettes’, a description first used by the Daily Mail in 1906. However, the term was adopted by women themselves and became widely used.
› parliament.uk/womenvote/