In terms of personal bravery she was certainly heroic, however, it is possible to argue that her actions, and those of the Suffragettes did more harm than good.
It is significant that the Pethick-Lawrences broke with her in 1912 and that Millicent Fawcett also withdrew any semblance of support in the same year. The reasons for these actions were Emmeline Pankhurst’s increasingly dictatorial command of the WSPU and the increasing violence of her campaigns.
From 1912 the WSPU was run as a terrorist movement in which obedience to the Pankhursts’ (Emmeline and Christabel) was paramount. Even Sylvia withdrew from the campaigns and concentrated on social work in the East End of London.
On the other hand, it can be argued that the success of the representation of the People Act in 1918 was at least partly brought about by the latent threat of a return to Suffragette tactics. Christabel had continued to edit ‘The Suffragette’ during the war years and this was certainly a factor in the minds of politicians in 1918.
