background

• By 1900, most men in Britain had the right to vote but women were excluded from national politics on the grounds of prejudice
• Most men, including those in government, believed women were uneducated, unworldly, fickle, immature and understood little about the world of politics, economics and business.
• A woman’s place was believed to be at home in the role of wife and mother; men and women were seen as operating in separate ‘spheres’ or worlds; men in politics and women in motherhood
• The majority of MPs believed that a woman’s husband or father voted for her and therefore the exclusion of women from politics was justifiable.