Legacy

The Legacy of the British Women’s Suffrage Movement is far reaching. Following World War One, the Representation of the People Act was passed in 1918 allowing men over 21 and women over 30 to vote. In 1919, Nancy Astor was consequently the first female MP to sit in the House of Commons. The Suffrage campaign continued throughout the 1920s, and in 1928 the Representation of the People Act was amended to allow everyone over the age of 21 to vote, men and women.

But, what was the legacy of the motor car and its use within the movement? National tours, using a caravan or a motor car, demonstrated the incredible dedication, commitment and attention to detail women possessed in their organisation skills. It displayed women’s ability to endure long drives as chauffeurs, and also solve problems on route requiring mechanical assistance that they themselves could provide.

Members of Liverpool Women’s Suffrage Society, 1910 (University of Liverpool Library /WikiCommons)

Without the motor car it is indeed fair to argue that the suffrage movement would not have been as successful as rapidly or as widely spread as it was.

The actions of the Women’s Suffrage Movement were inspirational. Mahatma Gandhi became inspired by Millicent Fawcett and her campaign when embracing passive resistance in 1907, and suffrage processions became the pattern for peaceful protest both in the UK and the US, such as, arguably, the October 1936 Jarrow to London march of 200 men against mass unemployment and extreme poverty.

Sources:

Education Service, Suffragettes – Timeline, Parliament UK, https://www.parliament.uk/documents/education/docs/suffragettes/suffragettes-timeline.pdf [accessed 29/04/2018]

Robinson, J., Hearts and Minds, The Untold Story of the Great Pilgrimage And How Women Won the Vote (London: Penguin Random House, 2018).