1918

At the end of the Great War the weary survivors of the horror of trench warfare returned to a country in which most of them could not vote. Women still couldn't vote despite the best efforts Emmeline Pankhurst and her WSPU; Pankhurst was born and grew up a couple of miles from where I grew up - albeit 100 years before I was there.

The Representation of the People Act (1918) extended the franchise to men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 as long as they were married to a property owner. 100 years ago my daughters would not have been able to vote.

With that in mind, and despite my reservations about the whole PCC thing, I exercised my franchise tonight and it felt good. When they come to take our votes from us let it be because we were too radical rather than too apathetic ;-)