Extension of the Franchise (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary 

Between 1900 and 1928, the right to vote widened across the UK, including Scotland. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave the vote to most men aged 21 and over, as well as to many women aged 30 and over who met property or education rules. The same year, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act allowed women to stand for the House of Commons, so Scottish women could be candidates in national elections. 

In 1919, the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act opened more public roles to women, which supported their wider political involvement. In 1928, the Equal Franchise Act set the voting age at 21 for both women and men.

Extension of the Franchise

• The 1918 Representation of the People Act widened the vote

• Most men aged 21+ and many women aged 30+ (with property or education qualifications) could vote

  • In Scotland, this created a mass female electorate for the first time, with big registration drives in cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh

• The 1918 Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act allowed women to stand for the House of Commons

  • In Scotland, Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, won Kinross and West Perthshire in 1923, becoming Scotland’s first woman MP

• The 1919 Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act opened public roles and professions to women

  • In Glasgow, Mary Barbour (elected 1920) became one of the city’s first women baillies, reflecting women’s growing role in civic leadership and the courts

• The 1928 Equal Franchise Act equalised voting at 21 for women and men

  • This added large numbers of younger women to the electoral roll in Scottish constituencies 

• It helped shape the 1929 “flapper election” when many younger women were able to vote for the first time

  • Scottish Labour’s Jennie Lee entered Parliament at age 24 that year (North Lanarkshire)

The importance of work in the war

• Women’s war service strengthened the case for reform

• Women were successful in jobs that had previously been seen as impossible for a woman to do

• Many thousands of women successfully worked in physically demanding jobs previously only given to men, including:

  • Working in factories and farms

  • Driving buses and trains 

• Scottish contributions, such as Dr Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, were widely praised and used by campaigners to argue that women had earned full political rights

The new electoral map

• The 1918 changes also redrew the electoral map

  • Scottish constituencies were reorganised and urban seats increased

  • Glasgow’s seats increased, giving growing industrial communities a stronger voice alongside the newly expanded electorate