WSPU - Government Attitudes to Female Suffrage and the WSPU? Flashcards
Conservative government 1895-1905 - Attitude of most Con MPs and the Con leadership
Most Con MPs were hostile to female suffrage but many of the leadership saw the potential of propertied women to get the vote as a means of increasing right-wing support as the 1884 reform act had seen an increase in left-wing support – all three leaders between 1881 and 1914 (Salisbury, Balfour and Bonar Law) indicated their willingness to consider limited female suffrage
Liberal government 1905-1922 - Attitude of the majority of members, EGs?
Liberal party was the opposite – the majority of members wither openly supported or were willing to consider female suffrage – EG in 1907 and 1909 they proposed the unsuccessful Women’s Suffrage Bill
Liberal government 1905-1922 - Attitude of the party leadership?
However the party leadership were concerned – in the late 19th century, they had been divided over various issues with groups of MPs pushing their own priorities – giving the vote to women might increase the strength of some pressure groups, like those supporting temperance laws, and make the party harder to unify
Liberal government 1905-1922 - What were women likely to vote, personal feelings of Asquith and Lloyd George?
Equally, without universal suffrage, it was more likely that the new women voters would support the Cons – Asquith in particular was opposed to female suffrage – only from 1916, with Lloyd George as PM, did the Liberals have a leader who genuinely supported female suffrage
Labour party - Attitude of the party towards female suffrage?
Lab did not support female suffrage but they would not distinguish it from universal suffrage for all men and women – this led to the stormy relationship with the suffrage movement, particularly the WSPU – in any event, with only 2 MPs in 1990 and 29 in 1906, they had little real impact of gov policy
Labour party - What did the overall lack of gob consensus mean?
The overall lack of consensus meant that there was no real gov support for female suffrage regardless of which party was in power – EG in 1906 about 400 of the 650 MPs favoured some form of female suffrage yet no bills were successfully passed until 1918
How did the gov respond to increased militancy - Initial relaxed stance
Gov initially took a relaxed stance – freedom of political expression had become an expectation by the late 19th century and many of the women leading the movement had connections with the political parties EG Emmeline Pankhurst
How did the gov respond to increased militancy - Increasing militancy and increasing arrests
As militancy increased, so did the arrests – police were sent to break up protests and to arrest women carrying out vandalism – when some WSPU members fought back, this caused a level of confusion – the gov had a difficult challenge as on the one hand, the violent actions had to be opposed, yet on the other hand images in the newspapers of women being physically restrained and complaints of police brutality did not look good for the authorities
How did the gov respond to increased militancy - Fines and short prison sentences
Fines and short prison sentences – in some areas, courts managed to limit the effect of the protests by giving fines rather than prison sentences, in some instances even paying the fines for them, which reduced the possibility for publicity – however this was not always possible, so prison sentences were kept short where possible
How did the gov respond to increased militancy - Why were hunger strike such a problem?
Hunger strikes were one of the biggest problems for the gov – female prisoners refused to eat, putting their lives in danger – this led to prison doctors force feeding prisoners through tubes pushed down their throats – this played into the hands of the WSPU, by painting a picture of further gob mistreatment of suffrage campaigners
How did the gov respond to increased militancy - What was passed as a result of the hunger strikes and what did this do?
As a result the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act was passed in 1913 that allows prisons to release women who strikes had endangered their health, instead of force-feeding them or letting them die, since they would presumably be too weak to be a public danger – then, once they had recovered, they could be re-arrested without trial if they committed further offences – although this created controversy as it seemed to toy with the women, it reduced public attention on the treatment of prisoners by removing the need to force-feed, and prevented any deaths in prison which would give the campaign in a martyr
