Nadine Cowan
Extended Essay
How important were the British Women’s Suffrage Campaigns in the decision to grant women the vote in 1918?
During the 19th century, Britain was going through a period of great social, political and industrial change. Throughout this time, mainly middle class women had made significant advances into the male sphere, especially in work and politics, and women’s suffrage was constantly kept on the political agenda. Women had become much more involved in a range of serious activities across society, had gained new legal rights over issues such as divorce, and had made advances in education, with some women now being allowed to go to university. This made it harder for politicians to justify not giving them the vote. With ⅔ of adult males having the vote by 1884, it seemed unfair that women, like mentally unstable people and criminals, were denied the basic right to vote. Therefore, as no one in any political party was campaigning for ‘votes for women’ the Suffrage society formed. Both the Suffragist, and later the Suffragette, campaigns were extremely important in convincing politicians to grant women the vote, as they brought ‘the cause’ to a national audience and highlighted the political inequalities between men and women at that time. However, there are other factors such as the Great War, which gave women the opportunity to show that they could keep the country going in a time of need, and changing social attitudes before 1914, which began to lean in favour of women being enfranchised and were crucial to the founding of the Suffrage campaigns, that played significant roles in the decision to extend the franchise to women in 1918.
Formed in 1869 under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was made up of middle class women who campaigned in reaction to the further enfranchisement of men after the Second Reform Act of 1867, where skilled working class men gained the vote, yet all women were excluded. These women campaigned as they had free time and a comprehensive social network, and were influenced by liberal ideology. The campaign brought this issue to the attention of politicians, and although many women were opposed to them gaining the vote - they saw it as threatening to both their comfortable status and identity as women – the Suffragists, as they became known, grew from local suffrage societies all over the country and had thousands of members. By 1914, with 53,000 members across 480 branches, the Suffragists were having an impact on the views of politicians towards them. Their peaceful tactics, such as petitions, silent protests and public speeches aimed to raise awareness and win wider support by persuasion. They were designed to undermine the stereotypical view that women were disorganised, irrational and politically illiterate. These tactics won over many politicians such as Disraeli and Lloyd George, who both expressed support towards women. The Suffragists campaign was pretty successful pre-1914, as is evident from the 1911 Conciliation Bill. 255 MPs were for votes for women, and many abstained, whilst 40 Private Members Bills were also taken to Parliament between 1867 and 1907 requesting the enfranchisement of women, showing the growing backing for them. The Suffragists also won Labour supporters from the 1912 pact, where Labour candidates would stand for election in constituencies where the Liberal candidate opposed ‘votes for women’. This meant that Labour candidates would benefit by gaining votes of Liberals who favoured votes for women. By 1914 most Liberals were in favour of extending the franchise to women, illustrating the success of the electoral pact. The Suffragist campaign continued even after WW1 had started, and the “Speakers Conference” was held to try and resolve the franchise issue. The conference delayed considering the decision until January 1917 as it was so controversial. The members of the conference indicated support for women’s suffrage by a vote of 15 to 6, but rejected equal suffrage by a vote of 12 to 10. They decided that an age limit should be introduced as to how old women had to be before they could vote, but left it to Parliament to decide whether that age should be 30 or 35. This was a major step towards reform, but it did not guarantee that women would get the vote. As a result of this, Fawcett led a deputation from 22 suffrage societies that met with the Local Government Board’s President in February, 1917. It said that if the government put the Speaker’s Report in its bill, then the women’s societies would accept them and not argue for more reform, like equal franchise. The Board’s President urged the Cabinet to agree to this as it would prevent any further radical activities. The Speakers Conference was very important, as it demonstrated improving relations between politicians and the Suffragists, and showed the women’s dedication to the cause.