Today marks 100 years since the first general election in which women were allowed to stand as candidates, and in which the UK’s first female MP was elected. The December 1918 election followed the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was the first in which all eligible electors voted on a single day. It was the first national poll to take place after the Representation of the People Act, which extended the franchise to all men over 21 and to some women. Before this there had been no law expressly forbidding women standing for parliament but they were excluded by convention and the House of Commons passed a resolution to confirm their eligibility.

Source: The Times December 14, 2018 12:00 UTC