Women's Suffrage in the UK
The Representation of the People Act gave British women over 30 the right to vote
February 06, 1918
Fighting for the Vote in Britain
British women did not have the right to vote until 1918, and they fought for it with extraordinary determination and courage. The campaign for women's suffrage in the UK became one of the most dramatic political struggles of the early 20th century. Two main organizations led the fight: the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which favored peaceful persuasion, and the Women's Social and Political Union, founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, which adopted more confrontational tactics. The Pankhursts coined the motto "Deeds, not words" and were willing to go to prison — and suffer hunger strikes — for the cause.
Militant Tactics and Harsh Responses
The suffragettes, as the militants were called, escalated their tactics dramatically in the years before World War I. They chained themselves to railings outside Downing Street, smashed shop windows on London's fashionable streets, set fire to mailboxes, and staged hunger strikes when imprisoned. The government responded with force-feeding and the notorious "Cat and Mouse Act," which allowed hunger strikers to be released temporarily until they recovered, then re-arrested. One suffragette, Emily Wilding Davison, ran onto the track at the Epsom Derby in 1913 and was fatally struck by the king's horse — a martyrdom that shocked the nation and drew massive attention to the cause.
Victory, Partial and Then Complete
When World War I broke out in 1914, the major suffrage organizations suspended their campaigns and threw their support behind the war effort. Women took on jobs in factories, offices, and hospitals that had previously been closed to them. When the war ended, the government could no longer credibly argue that women were unfit for public life. The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave women over 30 who met property requirements the right to vote. Women over 21 had to wait until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 for full voting equality. The suffragettes' struggle transformed British democracy and inspired women's movements around the world.