Women’s Vote: 100 Years

Tuesday 6th February 2018 marked 100 years since women got the vote in the UK.

“The Representation of the People Act is passed on 6 February giving women the vote provided they are aged over 30 and either they, or their husband, meet a property qualification [in which they must be homeowners].” – Parliament.uk

In 1918 at the same time, the voting age for men was dropped from 30 to 21. The fight for equality was not over yet for the Suffragettes, who were predominantly middle-class white women. There were two groups of Suffragettes who all had the same goal, just different means of achieving them; those who used peaceful tactics and demonstrations, and those who executed hunger strikes and carries out arson and firebomb attacks, as well as smashing windows.

It was only in 1928, under the Equal Franchise Act, did women achieve equal voting rights in the UK. This increased the number of eligible female voters from 8 million to 15 million. This fight was reflected across the world, with the UK being one of the first of many countries to gain equal voting rights for women.

Other equality rights are still being fought for today, with women still being under-represented in Parliament. They make up 32% of the total 650 members of Parliament, even though more women are running now than ever before.