Rachel Reeves: How the women of Westminster are showing the way forward 100 years after election of first female MP
We have come a long way since Nancy Astor was the sole woman in Parliament. Today, 208 of the 650 MPs are women. That’s progress, but nowhere near the 50:50 balance we need to reflect the people we serve.
When Alice Bacon was elected as the MP for Leeds North East in 1945 as Yorkshire’s first woman MP, the man she beat told her to enjoy her short stay in Parliament. In fact, she was there for 25 years and is still Yorkshire’s longest-serving woman MP.
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Hide AdBorn almost a decade before women got the vote, coal miner’s daughter Alice from Normanton became a Minister under Harold Wilson and helped bring in reforms including comprehensive education and the abolition of the death penalty.