Telford MP, Lucy Allan is to join with other MPs to mark the 150th anniversary of the John Stuart Mill’s petition to Parliament for women’s suffrage.
The petition handed in by John Stuart Mill was signed by 1500 women and is today recognised as the start of the campaign for votes for women.
At a reception held in The Speaker's House, today in Westminster, Nicky Morgan, Maria Miller, Jeremy Corbyn all spoke about the need to increase female representation in Parliament and the long fight to achieve equality.
The campaign for women’s vote secured its first success in 1918 when women over the age of 30 meeting certain property requirements granted the vote, before the 1928 Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act gave the vote to all men and women over the age of 21.
The anniversary will be marked at Parliament with a number of events including a debate and the unveiling of the artwork New Dawn commemorating women’s suffrage.
Commenting on the anniversary, Lucy Allan MP said: “The campaign for women’s votes took decades to win but without a doubt all of us owe a debt to those who took part.
“It is hard to believe that women were previously unable to vote but a number of brave women had the determination to deliver this human right to their peers.
“My ancestor Janie Allan was active in the suffragette movement and spent time in Holloway prison being force fed for a time. I am incredibly proud of her and her fellow campaigners’ actions and it is important that their efforts for us all are not forgotten.”