UK Representation of the People Act enfranchises women
- Date
- 6 February 1918
- Category
- Social & demographic
- Region
- Western Europe (United Kingdom)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
The Representation of the People Act 1918 granted parliamentary voting rights to women in Britain for the first time, alongside near-universal male suffrage.
Women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification (or whose husbands did) could now vote, enfranchising about 8.5 million women, roughly 40 per cent of the adult female population. The Act tripled the British electorate from about 7.7 million to over 21 million. The age and property restrictions were a deliberate compromise: had women voted on the same terms as men, they would have formed an electoral majority because of male wartime deaths. The reform reflected the impact of women's contributions during the First World War and decades of suffragist and suffragette campaigning. Equal franchise on the same terms as men followed in 1928. As one of the earliest enfranchisements in a major industrial power, the Act helped trigger a wider post-war wave of women's suffrage across Europe and beyond.
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Empires active in 6 February 1918
- Empire of Japan1868 CE – 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- German Empire1871 CE – 1918 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related social & demographic events
- Influenza pandemic of 1918–19201918–1920
- The Holocaust and the 'Final Solution'1941–1945
- Bengal Famine of 19431943–1944
- Emancipation of the serfs in Russia3 March 1861 (19 February O.S.)
- The Great Irish Famine1845–1852
- May Fourth Movement in China4 May 1919
Further reading
The wider story
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