How Much Credit Does Emmeline Pankhurst Deserve for the Inclusion of Women over 30 in the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1918?
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How much credit does Emmeline Pankhurst deserve for the inclusion of women over 30 in the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1918?
The organisation founded by Emmeline Pankhurst, The Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU) relied on militant tactics to campaign for womens suffrage. Emmeline Pankhurst believed that previous peaceful methods of persuasion had failed to achieve results. Therefore she viewed a more aggressive form of campaigning as vital for change. The militant followers of this movement adopted the term “suffragettes” to distinguish them from the non-militant suffragists who supported the NUWSS. These militant tactics involved attacks on property, storming of political buildings, hunger strikes and the chaining of themselves to railings. The militant tactics used by Emmeline Pankhurst and her supporters were successful in gaining significant attention from the media and public. This publicity did help in bringing the issue of womens suffrage to public attention on a much wider scale then previously experienced. To some extent the seriousness of the militant tactics utilized by the suffragettes demonstrated their commitment to the issue of womens suffrage, they were prepared to face often-violent police opposition and imprisonment. While many women did not agree with the militant tactics, non-the less many became sympathetic to the cause behind these tactics. A result of this was that there was an increase in the number of women joining womens suffrage organisations, notably the non-militant organisation of the NUWSS, whose membership grew from 12,000 in 1909 to 50,000 in 1914. However this further recruiting of members was not enjoyed by the WSPU and in some sense the publicity attracted by their tactics only seems to have benefited the popularity of the NUWSS.
Reform was dependent
on the support of the public in order to build and consolidate a parliamentary reform. While Emmeline Pankhurst believed militant tactics were the best method of pressuring the government, apart from gaining publicity, these tactics did little to gain major public support. The overall effect of the suffragette militancy was to halt progress into womens suffrage as they alienated some of the support, especially the working class. The suffragette movement mainly consisted of members from the middle and upper classes, while the movement was most well known for its militant tactics, there was no real form of party policy and little effort made to attract working class supporters. Attempts to gain supporters from working class areas were unsuccessful, demonstrated by the defeat of their candidate at the Bow and Bromley by-election. Therefore the suffragette movement suffered from the accusation that it did not represent the views of ordinary women, who it was claimed held the right to vote as having little importance. In fact there was wide spread opposition to womens suffrage.
The militant years of 1912-14 provoked massive public backlash. Suffragette demonstrations attracted huge crowds of unsympathetic onlookers and in some cases there was anti suffragette violence at such events. During the 1880s and up until 1908,womens suffrage bills had all achieved majorities on their second readings. Yet within Parliament this pro suffrage majority had continued to decrease during the militancy years and finally developed into an anti suffrage majority. This reduction in support was a direct consequence of the militant tactics of the suffragette movement, blatantly illustrating. As the campaign intensified the government remained evermore indifferent to the issue. Not only were many politicians irritated by the militancy but also there were also more serious issues facing the government. The Liberal government of the time was aware that if they made concessions and extended the franchise to include women property owners then this would inevitably give the Conservative Party an electoral advantage. There was also the dilemma of which women should be allowed the vote. This was made more complicated by the fact not all man were eligible to vote as there were 11 ways of qualifying. To add to the confusion the WSPU refused to accept an extension of the franchise, which would allow more adult men to vote and only allow some women. Furthermore with the build up to war the government had more serious problems to contend rather than dealing with womens suffrage which when compared to other issues was not a government priority.
Not only was WSPU limited in its success by its use of militancy, there were also weaknesses with its leadership, which prevented the organisation from achieving more. The autocratic leadership style of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters alienated many of the organisations members by demanding unquestioning obedience in every aspect of their decisions. This autocratic style of leadership provoked many leading suffragettes to leave the organisation and set up movements independently. Always a small organisation, the WSPU continued to become ever more divided and gradually become weaker in number, so much so that in 1913 Sylvia Pankhurst herself broke away.
Another weakness was that the militant tactics of the WSPU targeted all political leaders indiscriminately regardless of whether they were anti or pro womens suffrage thereby offending all the allies on whom their success depended. Rather than building up a parliamentary coalition of suffrage supporters, the WSPU alienated the MPs who were initially on their side.
By the time war had actually broken out in 1914, womens suffrage still had not been achieved. Up to this point the tactics of Emmeline Pankhursts WPSU had failed solely achieve change and had succeed in halting progress. However by 1916 there were definite signs that much of the opposition to votes for women was beginning to die down. With the start of war in 1914 Emmeline Pankhurst and her followers had suspended political activity and they dedicated their energies into supporting the war effort. The issue of votes for women