100 years ago, women were able to vote in British parliamentary elections for the first time. The 1918 Representation of the People Act gave some women over the age of 30 (and all men over the age of 21) the right to vote - a step on the path to full legal equality. The 1918 general election, held in December that year, was the first time that women were able to vote, and the first woman MP, Sinn Féin's Constance Markievicz, was elected.
This major milestone didn't just happen: it was the culmination of decades of determined, fearless campaigning by women and men across Britain, who faced ridicule, abuse, poverty, surveillance and arrest in their fight for the vote. We’ll be using the centenary celebrations to tell the stories of these Suffragettes, through events and displays that show off the world's largest collection relating to the militant Votes for Women campaign.