Women over 30 gained the vote in 1918 mainly because of women's contributions to the war effort. Do you agree?

One of the issues that swayed the government’s decision to give women suffrage was the resignation of the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith. Asquith who for many years had been firmly opposed to giving women the vote finally stepped down in 1916 after blame for military failures and the rising death toll was pinned on him by the press. This led to the appointment of David Lloyd George as the new Prime Minister. Lloyd George was known to have been very critical of Asquith’s methods and was more open to the idea of women’s suffrage, if not in support of it.

Another factor that contributed towards the final decision was the public opinion at the time, which up until the beginning of the war had been very sceptical towards the extension of suffrage to women, partially because of sexist attitudes and the tactics used by the suffragettes. But as the war ended public opinion began to conclude that women should receive the vote. This was aided by the decision of the suffragettes to abandon violent tactics and support the country during the war something which was not expected from the group. This showed the government and the public that the suffragettes were rational women and not the terrorists they had been made out to be. Another thing that changed public opinion was the contribution made by women in general during the war. Although encountering initial resistance, women applied to be recruited into the army for the first time and were given posts as nurses, drivers and secretaries amongst other duties. Women also joined the Land Army taking the places of farm-workers. Gradually women began to pick up the country from where the men had left it. This convinced many people that women were capable of and deserved enfranchisement.

The introduction of a coalition government during war time was another step towards women being given the vote. The coalition government was designed with the idea that all of the parties would support each other rather than be at each others throats in a time of need and cooperation. One of the major concerns that all parties shared over giving women the vote was uncertainty for who this new batch of voters would vote for. Each party was initially scared that the women would end up voting for the opposition, but with a coalition government this issue ceased to matter.

The contribution of women to the war altered the public opinion and laid the way for change, in my opinion this was the biggest hurdle overcome and the main reason why the vote was extended to women, however all the events mentioned above led to the vote being given to women and with the absence of any of these events the outcome may have been different.