Democratic reform

The Representation of People Act

In June 1917 the House of Commons passed the Representation of People Act. The following year the Act was approved by the House of Lords and became law. All men over 21 now had the right to vote. Some women also got the vote: women over 30, and women over 21 who were householders (owned their house) or married to householders. Although the Act still excluded many women, the fact that it was passed serves as proof of a change in political opinion towards women. It wasn't until 1928 when this act was expanded to give all women over the age of 21 the right to vote.

International pressure

By the time America joined the war, some of the United States had given women the vote. Other countries, such as New Zealand, Australia, Finland and Denmark, along with most of Canada, had enfranchised women. The result was that it was increasingly difficult for Britain not to follow suit. Britain would be embarrassed politically if the 'mother of democracy' was seen to be lagging behind other countries. In addition, Britain's war propaganda stressed the fact that the Allies were fighting for democracy and this implied universal suffrage.

Domestic pressures

War-related

For more than 50 years before the war an all-male Parliament was reluctant to enfranchise women. By the end of the war, politicians had changed their minds. There were various reasons:

• There was a general need for franchise reform. Many men in the armed forces could not vote due to the residence qualifications. After serving their country during the horrors of WWI it was felt that these men should be entitled to vote.
• With the need for democratic reform generally acknowledged, the case for extending the franchise to women was made stronger. After all they had done for the war effort it seemed unfair to deny them greater political representation.
• The balance of political power changed during the period of the war. Power shifted from those politicians opposed to votes for women, like Asquith, to those more in favour, such as Lloyd George, Balfour and Bonar Law.
• It has been argued that the war allowed a number MPs who had been hostile to the idea of votes for women a convenient excuse to change their minds if they thought their position had become untenable. Women's war work was a convenient pretext for them to save face and alter their position in favour of women's suffrage. After the war, even Asquith expressed the view that women had "earned" the right to vote.

Party politics

There is also evidence to suggest that, in the pre-war period, the Liberal government had been pressurising prospective MPs to support women's suffrage.

There had been meetings between the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, and representatives from suffrage organisations to discuss the matter. Asquith had even gone as far as replacing members of his government who were unsympathetic to the suffrage movement with those who were. This kind of negotiation had taken place many times previously, and nothing had come of them, but that is not to say these would have fizzled out too.

Summary

There are several reasons for the change in political opinion. Recognition for the role women played in the war effort was one good reason. Likewise, it has been argued that the granting of the vote for women was the end result of the campaigns of the women's suffrage movement, after the delay caused by the war.

Another view is that giving some women the vote was seen as a compromise to granting all women the vote. It is worth noting that had women been enfranchised based upon the same requirements as men, they would have been in the majority, due to the loss of men in the war.

There is evidence to suggest that the Representation of People Act was passed to avoid a return to the violent protests of the suffragettes. After their contributions during the war it would have been embarrassing for the government to go back to arresting and imprisoning women who had done so much for the war effort.

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