The year 2018 marks the centenary of some British women gaining the right to vote for the first time. It wasn’t until 1928 that universal suffrage was finally achieved, but 1918 was a critical breakthrough. The movement of the latenineteenth and early-twentieth century is often referred to as first-wave feminism.
Today, undoubtedly the bestknown ‘votes for women’ groups were the suffragettes, who were the radical feminists of the day. Less well known are the suffragists who campaigned using more conventional political methods. They carried out pioneering work to improve the lot of women in towns and cities across England. They played a crucial role, and their legacy lives on in the form of liberal feminist campaigns for equal rights. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was formed and led by Millicent Garrett Fawcett from 1897. Perhaps the most important liberal feminist organisation in Britain today is the Fawcett Society, named after the NUWSS leader.
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