Women of Westminster: The MPs who Changed Politics

by Rachel Reeves

Overview

In 1919 Nancy Astor was elected as the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton, becoming the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Her achievement was all the more remarkable given that women (and even then only some women) had only been entitled to vote for just over a year. In the past 100 years, a total of 491 women have been elected to Parliament. Yet it was not until 2016 that the total number of women ever elected surpassed the number of male MPs in a single parliament.
The achievements of these political pioneers have been remarkable – Britain has now had two female Prime Ministers and women MPs have made significant strides in fighting for gender equality - from the earliest suffrage campaigns, to Barbara Castle's fight for equal pay, to Harriet Harman's recent legislation on the gender pay gap. Yet the stories of so many women MPs have too often been overlooked in political histories. In this book, Rachel Reeves brings forgotten MPs out of the shadows and looks at the many battles fought by the Women of Westminster, from 1919 to 2019.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448217854
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.59(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Rachel Reeves is Labour MP for Leeds West. She was a member of Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet from 2013-2015. She is also the author of Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon (2018)

Table of Contents

List of illustrations vi

Acknowledgements xi

List of firsts xiii

Prologue to Paperback Edition xv

Foreword Mary Beard xix

Introduction 1

1 Seats for women: 1919-31 11

2 Women at war: 1931-45 41

3 Let us face the future: 1945-59 73

4 Stilettos and springboards: 1959-70 99

5 Leaders and losses: 1970-79 131

6 Paths to power: 1979-97 151

7 New Labour, more women: 1997-2010 183

8 More in common: 2010-19 209

Epilogue: A century of parliamentary sisterhood 245

Afterword: The Right Honourable Harriet Harman MP 255

Appendix 259

Notes 285

Select Bibliography 315

Index 325

Editorial Reviews

Now even more timely with the resignation of Theresa May from the post of Britain's Prime Minister, "Women of Westminster: The MPs who Changed Politics" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library British Political Science and 20th Century Women's History collections.” - Midwest Book Review

“Reeves' account is full of gems.” —The Sunday Times

“These achievements [of female MPs] are all the more remarkable because of the challenges and hostilities they faced ... Women of Westminster shows how far female MPs have come, but how challenging their work remains.” —The Guardian

“From household names like Nancy Astor to lesser-known, but equally pioneering politicians such as Florence Horsbrugh and Mavis Tate, Women of Westminster tells the story of the female MPs who shaped Parliament and the country. These women broke into Parliament's boys' club, rewrote the membership rules and in the process set about transforming Britain. This is a glorious compendium of the manifold achievements they chalked up - and the sacrifices they made. Rachel Reeves is perfectly positioned to tell their story, having experienced the slings and arrows of Parliamentary prejudice first-hand. As she herself puts it, she "stands on the shoulders" of her pioneering forbears, and from that vantage point she can see not only all they achieved but also what more needs to be done.” —Cathy Newman

From the Publisher