Women
The first woman elected to the House of Commons was Constance Markievicz who was elected on 14 December 1918 to the constituency of Dublin St Patrick's, but she refused to take her seat as she was a member of Sinn Féin.
The first woman to take her seat as an MP was Conservative Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, elected 28 November 1919.
The only female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was Margaret Thatcher who served as PM from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. Thatcher is the only woman to have held either post and is currently the only female ever to be the Leader of the three major political parties in the UK. She was also the first woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State.
Read more about this topic: Records Of Members Of Parliament Of The United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the word women:
“But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“To associate with other like-minded people in small, purposeful groups is for the great majority of men and women a source of profound psychological satisfaction. Exclusiveness will add to the pleasure of being several, but at one; and secrecy will intensify it almost to ecstasy.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Every woman who visited the Fair made it the center of her orbit. Here was a structure designed by a woman, decorated by women, managed by women, filled with the work of women. Thousands discovered women were not only doing something, but had been working seriously for many generations ... [ellipsis in source] Many of the exhibits were admirable, but if others failed to satisfy experts, what of it?”
—Kate Field (1838–1908)