Women's Social and Political Union in the context of "Sylvia Pankhurst"

A movement to fight for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom finally succeeded through acts of Parliament in 1918 and 1928.

In 1832, the Representation of the People Act (or First Reform Act) had passed into law which extended the franchise to various groups of property owning men, thus legally excluding women.

Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie Baldock. Kenney attracted the attention of the press and public in 1905 when she and Christabel Pankhurst were imprisoned for several days for assault and obstruction related to the questioning of Sir Edward Grey at a Liberal rally in Manchester on the issue of votes for women. The incident is credited with inaugurating a new phase in the struggle for women's suffrage in the UK with the adoption of militant tactics. Annie had friendships with Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence, Mary Blathwayt, Clara Codd, Adela Pankhurst, and Christabel Pankhurst.

Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst DBE (/ˈpæŋkhərst/; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette and Royalist born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed its militant actions from exile in France from 1912 to 1913. In 1914, she supported the war against Germany. After the war, she moved to the United States, where she worked as an evangelist for the Second Adventist movement.

A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members of the British Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst, which engaged in direct action and civil disobedience. In 1906, a reporter writing in the Daily Mail coined the term suffragette for the WSPU, derived from suffragist (any person advocating for voting rights), in order to belittle the women advocating women's suffrage. The militants embraced the new name, even adopting it for use as the title of the newspaper published by the WSPU.

Women had won the right to vote in several countries by the end of the 19th century; in 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant the vote to all women over the age of 21. When by 1903 women in Britain had not been enfranchised, Pankhurst decided that women had to "do the work ourselves"; the WSPU motto became "deeds, not words". The suffragettes heckled politicians, tried to storm parliament, were attacked and sexually assaulted during battles with the police, chained themselves to railings, smashed windows, carried out a nationwide bombing and arson campaign, and faced anger and ridicule in the media. When imprisoned they went on hunger strike, not eating for days or even a week, to which the government responded by force-feeding them. The first suffragette to be force fed was Evaline Hilda Burkitt. The death of one suffragette, Emily Wilding Davison, when she ran in front of King George V's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby, made headlines around the world along with 17 other women. The WSPU campaign had varying levels of support from within the suffragette movement; breakaway groups formed, and within the WSPU itself not all members supported the direct action.

Hilda Mary Dallas (6 February 1878 – 1958) was a British artist and a suffragette who designed suffrage posters and cards and took a leadership role for the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). A pacifist, she raised funds from a cross-section of society, produced and designed set & costumes for the 1929 Court Theatre production of the anti-war satirical play The Rumour.

Lucy Minnie Baldock (née Rogers; 20 November 1864 – 10 December 1954) was a British suffragette. Along with Annie Kenney, she co-founded the first branch in London of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).

Clara Margaret Codd (10 October 1876 – 3 April 1971) was a British writer, suffragette, socialist feminist, and theosophist. She went to jail for the suffragettes and then devoted her life to the Theosophical Society.

Adela Constantia Mary Walsh (née Pankhurst; 19 June 1885 – 23 May 1961) was a British-born suffragette who worked as a political organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Scotland. In 1914 she moved to Australia where she continued her activism and was co-founder of both the Communist Party of Australia and the Australia First Movement.

The Suffragette was a newspaper associated with the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, as "the Official Organ of the Women’s Social and Political Union" (WSPU). It replaced the previous journal of the organisation, Vote for Women, in 1912, and its name changed to Britannia after the outbreak of World War I.