Another relevant and specific method was parliamentary lobbying. The suffragettes only did use this method. One of the things the suffragettes did was to get a private members bill, this was done by suffragettes who had an mp but not in a high rank that supported them and felt it was right for women to get certain rights. They also tried to bully the parties such as the liberal democrats, conservatives or labour to adopt women’s rights as the policy of the party, policy of the party being the idea that a particular party has and if they were to get into power that would be what they would do. Parliamentary lobbying was very and highly unsuccessful as women who were caught in the act were taken away and then would’ve been pushed and pulled until their clothes had torn, their banner trampled on and then dragged out of the hall and thrown onto the streets. After this they would be picked up by the police and then poisoned in jai without trial. Parliamentary lobbying in terms of trying to get political parties to change their policy was successfully but to a degree the private members bill was successful but to a small scale because they did get read although they were thrown away.
One method and way of attracting attention by the suffragettes and suffragist was non-violent peaceful means for example peaceful protesting. They used peaceful, legal tactics to try to win support also they sent petitions to Parliament, wrote letters to MPs, distributed leaflets and organised meetings. Both groups made leaflets and produced board games, which ridiculed the government, and they also used large poster campaigns, which demonised the government for example a poster featuring a cat as the government and a woman from the WSPU in the mouth exactly like the cat, and mouse act, which was happening at that time. Other poster campaigns showed pictures of professional women trapped in the area of convicts and lunatics it stated should all women be classified as these. Mrs Fawcett the leader of the suffragist addressed the Women’s Pilgrimage Day in Hyde Park quite often moreover she believed keeping the campaign in the public eye and a drip by drip process politely wearing the enemy down, all of this was done by logic. These peaceful methods were used to acquire the attention not only of the government but also the public. These were done by non-violent diplomatic means by the suffragettes at one point but mainly done by the suffragist, therefore no one disproved of them.
Another method used by only the suffragettes was civil disobedience, which included vastly vicious methods. In 1909 there were multiple simultaneous suffrage attacks and furthermore a woman called Ada Wright deliberately allowed the Daily Mail to take pictures of her getting mistreated and bullied by the police. In 1911 enraged by the decision to change the men’s franchise only the WSM started to set fire to letter boxes which at that time was a crime as letters were delivered and received from there and the company of the people posting it around “The Royal Mail” as it was owned by the queen also cutting telephone wires and slashed paintings. Besides in 1913 Emily Davidson a suffragette campaigner ran under a King’s Horse trying to underline the cause of women’s suffrage as well as at the mayor’s banquet with Winston Churchill, Amelia Brown and accomplice pretend to be kitchen staff and after the toast they threw their shoes at the window. Another violent incident was in 1913 they succeeded in blowing up a section of the MP David Lloyd George’s house. A woman called Ada Wright threw stones at Whitehall trying to break the windows of the building, Christabel Pankhurst attended a meeting and then they assaulted a policeman along with being arrested and force fed in prison. Another numerous number of violent actions done by women were once arrested they refused to pay fines thereby accepted imprisonment along with a lady called Miss Nell changing herself to a PM’s door so the police couldn’t move her and then made her speech. Moreover Buckingham Palace the home of her majesty was targeted and attacked by suffragettes in May 1914. So as time preceded the suffragettes methods of getting their views around grew increasingly extreme, illegal and much more developed. What women wanted to accomplish was to attract attention to the government saying we are equal as men and we are not giving up. They stated that if they didn’t get these rights they would terrorise the government and will not back down or compromise until their demands are met. So the actions suffragettes used grew increasingly radical and can be compared and to be as extreme as terrorism as the years progressed.
On major impact and issue between the suffragettes and suffragist was leadership. Emmeline Pankhurst led the suffragettes or known as the WSPU whilst Millicent Fawcett led the suffragist or known as the suffragists. Firstly in the beginning there were two groups which worked together as a untied front fighting for women’s rights however over a period of time there was a breakaway movement formed in 1903 by the Pankhursts who were frustrated and outraged by the lack of improvement achieved by the suffragist, with their peaceful use of methods. The new group formed was called the suffragettes, which used slightly violent methods compared to the suffragists but they still worked together. However in 1912-13 they completely split because of Millicent Fawcett’s refusal to work with Emmeline Pankhurst’s violent methods of getting their groups views around because she felt that this went against their cause. Chirstabel Pankhurst daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst said ‘One decision I came to firmly it was that this voting question must be settled...To go on pleading was undignified.’
Suffragettes and suffragist were two sides of the same group, they were not totally separate but newspapers and the media just made them different to show people the methods each groups used. Women supported both groups no matter how violent their methods were because they all fought for the same goal the right for women getting the vote.