Why Did The Suffragists Get The Vote In 1918

As argued by Martin Pugh pre-war campaigns played a significant role in gaining women the vote in 1918. Therefore it is important to consider the (NUWSS) suffragist campaign formed in 1897 by various women’s suffrage societies under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett. These members believed that they could achieve success peacefully within the law and they believed that securing the vote was the main objective to securing reforms benefiting women’s interests overall. The suffragists had gained an overwhelming amount of support and during the 1910 general election the NUWSS organised petitions and presented around 300,000 signatures to the House of Commons. These signatures included male signatures providing evidence of the overwhelming amount of support
The political alliances created by the suffragists gave them a voice in Parliament and by 1912 they had achieved alliances with many MPs, agreeing to support the suffrage campaign. In 1906 during the successful ‘Mud March’ the suffrage movement displayed unity and secured wide spread publicity. Keir Hardie from the growing Labour party spoke up for the suffrage campaign during this parade which put further pressure on the liberal party. Sandra Holton argues “Women's war work may have been important in converting some former opponents, or providing others with a face-saving excuse to alter their positions. But even before this, the political alliances the democratic suffragists had formed in support of their demand had ensured that women would have to be included in any future reform bill.” Therefore the support and political alliances formed by the suffragists is of great significance in aiding women gain the vote. Martin Pugh argues that democratic tactics adopted by the NUWSS helped them to gain support from many politicians, however as many were “lukewarm” they were not prepared prioritise the issue. Therefore the evidence proves that women did not receive the vote solely for their participation in World