Impact of the Campaigns for Women's Suffrage (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary 

Although the franchise had been extended to many groups by the start of the 20th century, women still could not vote in British general elections. Activists campaigned for women’s suffrage and kept the issue in front of Parliament. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) lobbied peacefully and won supporters; the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) used militant tactics that drew headlines and backlash. 

During the war, women did essential work and strengthened their case for the vote. Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act in 1918, which allowed many women over 30 to vote, and the Equal Franchise Act in 1928, which gave women the same voting rights as men at 21.

The Suffragettes

• Throughout the 19^th century, there had been demands for the right to vote to be extended to women

  • This was also known as suffrage 

• A suffragette was someone who fought for women's right to vote

Suffragette activities

• Activists organised high-profile marches, rallies and interruptions of political meetings to force the vote onto the agenda

• Some Liberals and Labour figures engaged with campaigners

  • Other politicians faced noisy protests and hostility

    • Winston Churchill’s political meetings and campaigns in Dundee (contests) were frequently interrupted

• The activists also used civil disobedience and militancy, including:

  • Window-smashing

  • Letter-box fires

  • Damage to empty buildings and golf greens

• Scottish suffragettes (e.g. the McPhun sisters of Glasgow) linked local branches to UK-wide campaigns

  • They joined the 1912 window-smashing raids, and used arrests to attract attention in the press and pressure MPs

  • Scottish and UK papers covered arrests, window-smashing and hunger strikes extensively, amplifying (increasing) both support and backlash

• WSPU members in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee smashed windows, attacked property and disrupted meetings to keep the vote in the news

• Suffragettes targeted Cabinet ministers and key by-elections with protests to embarrass the government

• They ran a disciplined organisation with local branches, paid organisers and a tight central leadership

• Suffragette activities included:

  • Publication of newspapers and pamphlets

  • Posters and the colours purple, white, and green to spread the message

  • Raising funds through subscriptions, sales, fêtes and speaking tours to sustain campaigning

• The suffragettes accepted arrest to gain publicity

• They also used hunger strikes in prison to highlight their treatment

  • Activists such as Ethel Moorhead and Arabella Scott were imprisoned in Edinburgh/Perth

  • They went on hunger strike and were force-fed

  • Force-feeding in Edinburgh and Perth drew outrage and sympathy for prisoners

• In response to these claims, the government passed the Prisoners' Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act in 1913

  •  This allowed prisoners to be released when they were weak from starvation and rearrested when they recovered their health

• Critics of the Act said it was like a cat cruelly toying with a mouse and it became widely known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’

• During 1914–18, the suffragettes suspended militancy and backed the war effort

  • They argued that this proved women’s citizenship

Views on suffrage

• Militancy grabbed headlines and split public opinion: some people admired the bravery; others condemned the damage and disruption

• Work by Scottish-linked initiatives like Scottish Women’s Hospitals improved public respect for suffrage activists by 1914–18