This year is being claimed as the centenary of women being granted the right to vote. Call me a spotter if you like (I have written a successful novel after all, The Custom of the Trade, in which the heroine and my favourite character is a suffragette activist), but I claim the centenary should truly be celebrated in 2028.
In November 1918, Parliament did indeed pass an Act allowing fewer than 10 million women, all of whom had to be householders, wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5 or more, or graduates of British universities, and over the age of 30, to vote in General Elections. The same Act gave the right to men over the age of 21. It was not until 1928 that all women over the age of 21 were entitled to vote, finally putting women on an equal footing with men.
I think many people will be surprised to learn how long it took for the women of Britain to gain parity with men when it came to the ballot box. So celebrate you overdue achievement ladies, but make sure you don’t forget to celebrate in 2028, too.
