A hundred years ago on Tuesday, King George V assented to the Representation of the People Act. Women got the vote for the first time. In all the commentary on this centenary, little has been said about who gave it to them, presumably because the answer — Lloyd George’s Conservative-dominated wartime coalition — does not fit the heroic narrative of liberation struggle. The Bill was passed by 385 votes to 55, with Lloyd George himself, Winston Churchill, Ramsay MacDonald and Asquith among those in favour, and Mrs May’s hero Joe Chamberlain the best known of those against. There were several reasons for the change of mind in favour of women’s suffrage, but the political motive was, as always, important. The act enfranchised non-property-owning men because many of them had fought in the Great War. It also enfranchised property-owning women (and women married to property owners) over 30. The former measure would increase the Labour vote, people thought.

The Spectator’s Notes | 1 February 2018
Also in The Spectator’s Notes: The so-called youthquake and the ‘murder’ of grey squirrels

issue 03 February 2018
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