Emmeline Pankhurst

Key facts

• Campaigned for women's right to vote (women's suffrage) in Parliamentary elections.
• Founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903 — the first group whose members were called "suffragettes".
• Used civil disobedience to fight for the cause: chaining themselves to railings, smashing windows, going on hunger strike.
• In 1918, partly recognising women's war effort, women over 30 won the vote; shortly before Pankhurst's death in 1928, women won the vote at 21, the same age as men.