On 3 November the IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar will be hosting a hybrid seminar in-person and via Zoom with Dr Paula Bartley. Paula will be presenting her paper ‘Trailblazers: the first women elected to government‘. There will be a question and answer session following the presentation. The seminar will take place in-person at the IHR (Room NB02) and via Zoom. Please contact seminar@histparl.ac.uk for Zoom details.
Abstract
In 1901 politics was a man’s world: men stood for election; men framed the laws. Life across the world was generally hierarchical. Unless they were of royal blood, there were no women – not one – in any government, in any country, in any part of the globe. Throughout Europe, Kings, Sultans, Grand Dukes, Princes, and a Tsar ruled their countries. Just by virtue of their birth. There were no women in elected governments elsewhere either. Not in Canada, in the United States, in Nigeria, in India, in South America, in Australia, in Japan. I could go on – the list would include every single country in the world.
Into this seemingly calm and ordered life burst a political firestorm. Finnish women sparked a flame that would ignite across the globe. In 1907, 19 women were elected to the Eduskunta, the Finnish parliament. This was a momentous occasion, beginning what I call the century of democracy. More and more countries followed Finland to adopt systems of government that gave all their female citizens the right to vote and stand for parliament. By 2000, over 95% of countries had elected or appointed women to their representative body.
Why did this happen? As we know, the twentieth century was marked by revolutions in Europe, two world wars, the Cold War, the decolonisation of Africa and Asia, the increasing power of America and the formation and collapse of the United Soviet Socialist Republic. All this reshaped global politics. Women all over the world, at different times, in different countries, in different circumstances took advantage of the power vacuums created by these upheavals. My talk will explore these themes and share stories of some of the remarkable women who were the first to enter their respective governments.
Dr Paula Bartley is Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Warwick. She has published widely for both an academic and a student readership focusing particularly on women’s history. From 1980 she co-edited Cambridge University Press’ Women in History series. Her books include The Changing Role of Women (1996), Prostitution, Reform and Prevention (1999), Emmeline Pankhurst (2002), Votes for Women (third edition, 2007), Ellen Wilkinson (2014), Queen Victoria (2016), Labour Women in Power (2019) and Women’s Activism in 20th Century Britain (2022). Her latest book is Trailblazers, the first women elected to government (2026). She was a former Chair of the Women’s History Network book prize.
