Women of Westminster

The MPs who Changed Politics

Women of Westminster

The MPs who Changed Politics

Rachel Reeves (Author)

Online resources available

Paperback ~~£12.99~~ £11.69 Hardback ~~£20.00~~ £18.00

Out of stock

£11.69 RRP £12.99 Website price saving £1.30 (10%)

Notify me

For information on how we process your data, read our Privacy Policy

Description

Winner of the Best Non-Biographical Book by a Parliamentarian at the Parliamentary Books Awards 2019.

A complete account of the first 100 years of women in Parliament. With a foreword by Dame Mary Beard.

In 1919 Nancy Astor was elected as the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton, becoming the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Her achievement was all the more remarkable given that women (and even then only some women) had only been entitled to vote for just over a year. In the past 100 years, a total of 491 women have been elected to Parliament. Yet it was not until 2016 that the total number of women ever elected surpassed the number of male MPs in a single parliament.

The achievements of these political pioneers have been remarkable – Britain has now had two female Prime Ministers and women MPs have made significant strides in fighting for gender equality - from the earliest suffrage campaigns, to Barbara Castle's fight for equal pay, to Harriet Harman's recent legislation on the gender pay gap. Yet the stories of so many women MPs have too often been overlooked in political histories. In this book, Rachel Reeves brings forgotten MPs out of the shadows and looks at the many battles fought by the Women of Westminster, from 1919 to 2019.

Preface to the Paperback Edition
Foreword by Mary Beard

Introduction

1. Seats for Women 1919-1931
2. Women at War 1931-1945
3. Let us Face the Future 1945-1959
4. Stilettos and Springboards 1959-1970
5. Leaders and Losses 1970-1979
6. Paths to Power 1979-1997
7. New Labour, More Women 1997-2010
8. More in Common 2010-2019

Epilogue

Afterword by Harriet Harman MP

Product details

Published	17 Jul 2025
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	368
ISBN	9781399428644
Imprint	Bloomsbury Continuum
Illustrations	32 colour illustrations
Dimensions	216 x 135 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Rachel Reeves

Rachel Reeves is a British politician and economis…

Reeves' account is full of gems.

The Sunday Times
These achievements [of female MPs] are all the more remarkable because of the challenges and hostilities they faced ... Women of Westminster shows how far female MPs have come, but how challenging their work remains.

Guardian
Reeves's position as an insider lends a compelling edge, particularly when she describes the appalling abuse still suffered by many women MPs.

Journal of British Studies
From household names like Nancy Astor to lesser-known, but equally pioneering politicians such as Florence Horsbrugh and Mavis Tate, Women of Westminster tells the story of the female MPs who shaped Parliament and the country. These women broke into Parliament's boys' club, rewrote the membership rules and in the process set about transforming Britain. This is a glorious compendium of the manifold achievements they chalked up - and the sacrifices they made. Rachel Reeves is perfectly positioned to tell their story, having experienced the slings and arrows of Parliamentary prejudice first-hand. As she herself puts it, she "stands on the shoulders" of her pioneering forbears, and from that vantage point she can see not only all they achieved but also what more needs to be done.

Cathy Newman