Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor was born in Danville, Virginia and raised in Greenwood, Virginia. Her first marriage, to socialite Robert Gould Shaw II, was unhappy and ended in divorce. She then moved to England and married American-born Englishman Waldorf Astor in 1906.
The Irish component of the 1918 United Kingdom general election took place on 14 December 1918. It was the final United Kingdom general election to be held throughout Ireland, as the next election would happen following Irish independence. It is a key moment in modern Irish history, seeing the overwhelming defeat of the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), which had dominated the Irish political landscape since the 1880s, and a landslide victory for the radical Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin had never previously stood in a general election, but had won six seats in by-elections in 1917–1918. The party had vowed in its manifesto to establish an independent Irish Republic. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party.
The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sent letters of endorsement to candidates who supported the coalition government. These were nicknamed "Coalition Coupons", and led to the election being known as the "coupon election". The result was a massive landslide in favour of the coalition, comprising primarily the Conservatives and Coalition Liberals, with massive losses for Liberals who were not endorsed. Nearly all the Liberal MPs without coupons were defeated, including party leader H. H. Asquith.
South Down is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Chris Hazzard of Sinn Féin.
The 1921 Irish elections took place in Ireland on 24 May 1921 to elect members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. These legislatures had been established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which granted Home Rule to a partitioned Ireland within the United Kingdom.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also known as the right to vote, to men aged over 21, whether or not they owned property, and to women aged over 30 who resided in the constituency whilst occupying land or premises with a rateable value above £5, or whose husbands did. At the same time, it extended the local government franchise to include women aged over 30 on the same terms as men. It came into effect at the 1918 general election.
Thomas James Mitchell was an Irish republican. He was active in the Irish Republican Army and took part in a raid on Omagh barracks in 1954, being captured and imprisoned. While in jail he was twice elected as a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament, but was disqualified and his elections overturned.
South Dublin, a division of County Dublin, was a county constituency in Ireland from 1885 to 1922. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, using the first past the post voting system.
South Fermanagh was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland.
Victoria, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922, using the first past the post electoral system.
Dublin St Patrick's, a division of Dublin, was a borough constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1885 until 1922.
National University of Ireland (NUI) is a university constituency in Ireland, which elects three senators to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas. Its electorate is the graduates of the university, which has a number of constituent universities. It previously elected members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (1918–1921), to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland (1921) and to Dáil Éireann (1922–1937).
Dublin University is a university constituency in Ireland, which elects three senators to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas. Its electorate comprises the undergraduate scholars and graduates of the University of Dublin, whose sole constituent college is Trinity College Dublin, so it is often also referred to as the Trinity College constituency. Between 1613 and 1937 it elected MPs or TDs to a series of representative legislative bodies.
Margaret Wintringham was a British Liberal Party politician. She was the second woman, and the first British-born woman, to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The 1919 Plymouth Sutton by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 28 November 1919 for the British House of Commons constituency of Sutton in the city of Plymouth, Devon.
Jane Wyse Power was an Irish activist, feminist, politician and businesswoman. She was a founder member of Sinn Féin and also of Inghinidhe na hÉireann. She rose in the ranks to become one of the most important women of the revolution. As President of Cumann na mBan, she left the radicalised party and formed a new organisation called Cumann na Saoirse, holding several senior posts in the Dáil during the Free State.
The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), Theresa May (2016–2019), and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament. In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and, decades later, abandon all-women short lists, something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.
Constance Antonina Boyle was a British journalist, campaigner for women's suffrage and women's rights, charity and welfare worker, and novelist. She was one of the pioneers of women police officers in Britain. In April 1918, she was the first woman to submit a nomination to stand for election to the House of Commons, which paved the way for other female candidates in the December 1918 general election.
The 1918 Keighley by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 26 April 1918.
The 1918 East Cavan by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of East Cavan on 20 June 1918. The election was caused by the death of the sitting member, Samuel Young of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
