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On 21 November 1918, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act was passed, which enabled women over the age of twenty-one to stand for parliamentary election. The 1918 General Election saw women stand for parliament for the first time, but the journey to becoming an MP was far from easy. This thesis traces the parliamentary election campaigns of women candidates from 1918 to 1931. This was a pivotal time in history, as the period from 1918 to 1931 was not a story of continuous progress for women. Seventeen women stood in the 1918 General Election, followed by thirty-three in 1922, thirty-four in 1923, and forty-one in 1924. Sixty-nine women contested the 1929 election, but this figure decreased to sixty-two in 1931. During these years, only thirty-three women were elected to the House of Commons, given the multitude of challenges they faced.
This thesis offers the first comprehensive study of female parliamentary candidates from 1918 to 1931, through its systematic analysis of candidates’ election addresses. Throughout this period, female candidates utilised the concept of the ‘woman’s point of view’, whereby women were believed to have a viewpoint distinctive from that of men, particularly with regards to what were deemed as traditional female concerns, such as the home and social reform. This thesis examines the concept throughout the five chapters and argues that female candidates used conventional assumptions about gender roles in order to gain acceptance for their pioneering activities. However, it must be acknowledged that female candidates were not a homogenous group, and women’s political identities in relation to their gender, party and class are explored throughout this study. Indeed, female candidates generally followed the party line, similar to male candidates, although they often combined their party’s policies with reference to their gendered experiences.
Until now, the election campaigns and experiences of women candidates during the interwar period have received little attention from historians. The historiography has tended to focus on the small number of women who succeeded in becoming MPs and their experiences in the House of Commons, in addition to analysis of the effectiveness of the interwar women’s movement. Thus, this study provides new insights into the ways in which female candidates conducted their campaigns, the political promises they made to the electorate, the issues they championed, and how they navigated their political identities. It contributes to the disciplines of women’s, gender, and political history, and takes a digital approach to study the language of candidates’ election addresses. In doing so, this thesis makes an original contribution to the historiography. |
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