KP/JK/3/PAN/C/3 - General election leaflet - Miss Christabel Pankhurst, 14/12/1918

KP/JK/3/PAN/C/3

Item

General election leaflet - Miss Christabel Pankhurst, 14/12/1918

14/12/1918

1 Leaflet

Pankhurst, Christabel, Dame, 1880-1958
Women's Party (Great Britain)

On the cover: portrait photograph of Christabel Pankhurst on the occasion of her graduation. Inside is an address to the men and women electors of Smethwick.

During WWI, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst fiercely supported the British war effort. Their commitment to the war campaign was driven by the belief that if women were seen as indispensable in time of war, they will be rewarded with the vote in time of peace. A deal was struck and the 1918 Representation of the People Act gave women over 30, with property or education qualifications, the right to vote. Having reached its goal, the WSPU was disbanded and succeeded by the Women’s Party. The increasingly conservative direction taken by the Women's Party however alienated many of WSPU’s previous members who had a more moderate or left-leaning outlook and Christabel was the party’s only candidate in the 1918 General Election. Her proposed policies stretched from support for the British Empire and economic conservatism to proposals for expansive housing and education reform, crossing the political divide. She was platformed jointly by the Women’s Party and the Conservative Party, but was narrowly defeated by Labour candidate J. E. Davison by 775 votes.

Copyright: Estate of Christabel Pankhurst (c/o Helen Pankhurst). All rights reserved.

A digital copy may be viewed at Suffragette Stories: https://suffragettestories.omeka.net/items/show/12