The Suffragettes were given that name by a newspaper reporter who wrote that not only did the members of the Women’s Social and Political Union want female suffrage, or the right to vote, but that they meant to get it. The name was accepted immediately, perhaps because words ending in “ette” often denoted something feminine.
The greatest leader of the suffragette movement was Emmellne Pankhurst (1858-1928), who founded the WSPU in 1903. The question of women’s right to vote had been raised already by keir Hardie, Philip Snowden and George Lansbury. In 1905 two suffragettes, Christable Pankhurst (Emmeline’s daughter) and Annie kenney were roughly handled at a Liberal meeting in Manchester and then arrested as they tried to address the crowd outside. They chose to serve a prison sentence and thereby aroused attention all over the world.
Suffragettes persistently lobbied Members of Parliament, one of whom, Bamford Slack, agreed to introduce a Bill in Parliament. He was prevented from doing so by other MPs prolonging the previous debate. The suffragettes decided on militant action. They were ill-treated, abused, arrested and sent to prison, where they went on hunger strike because they were not treated as political prisoners. They lost some public sympathy by the violence of their demonstrations, which included smashing windows and slashing pictures in public galleries.
Seven suffrage Bills were defeated in Parliament, but gradually public support increased and hundreds of thousands of pounds were given to the movement.
In 19 Lloyd George’s government sponsored the representation of the People Act, which gave the vote to married women, women householders and women university graduates over 30. Ten years later women voters were given equality with men.
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