Representation of The People Act 1918 - Aftermath

Aftermath

The first election held under the new system was the 1918 general election. Polling took place on 14 December 1918, but vote-counting did not start until 28 December 1918.

Following the passing of the Representation Act that ensured about 8.4 million women gained the vote, in November 1918, the Eligibility of Women Act was passed, allowing women to be elected to Parliament. Several women stood for election for a seat in the House of Commons in 1918. However, only one, the Sinn Féin candidate for the constituency of Dublin St. Patrick's, Constance Markievicz, was elected although she chose not to take her seat at Westminster and instead sat in Dáil Éireann (the First Dáil) in Dublin. The first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons was Nancy Astor on 1 December 1919 having been elected as a Coalition Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton on 28 November 1919.

There were some limitations to the Representation act that was meant to change the face of British democracy. The act still did not create a system of one person, one vote. 7% of the population enjoyed a plural vote in the 1918 election: mostly middle-class men who had an extra vote due to a university constituency (this act increased the university vote by creating the Combined English Universities seats) or a spreading of business into other constituencies. There was also a significant inequality between the voting rights of men and women. Women could only vote if they were over 30 and either a local government elector through property qualification, or married to a husband who was so enfranchised, or entitled to vote for a university constituency.