Women, Power, and Politics in Britain, 1945-1997

Ruth Davidson, Institute of Historical Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research, London,Farah Hussain, Political Science PhD researcher, Queen Mary, University of London,Lyndsey Jenkins, Associate Professor in History, Mansfield College, University of Oxford,Anna Muggeridge, Lecturer in History and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, University of Worcester

Ruth Davidson is an Institute of Historical Research Fellow 2024/5 at the Institute of Historical Research, London. She has published widely on gender, politics, voluntary action, and social policy. She is currently completing her first monograph, Women's Welfare Activism: Everyday Power and Politics in Twentieth-century Britain (Manchester University Press, forthcoming).


Farah Hussain is a political science PhD researcher at Queen Mary, University of London. Farah's research focuses on the experience of Muslim women in local politics, especially the Labour Party. Alongside her research, she works in Parliament and was previously a local councillor in London 2014-2022.


Lyndsey Jenkins is associate professor and tutorial fellow in history at Mansfield College Oxford. She is a historian of women, politics, and activism in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with a particular interest in feminism and socialism. She has held teaching positions at Kings College, London and the University of Reading, as well as various Oxford colleges.


Anna Muggeridge is a historian of women's activism in twentieth-century Britain. She held a variety of teaching posts at the University of Worcester before securing a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in 2024. She is currently completing her first monograph, on women and local government in the interwar years, and undertaking her FLF, entitled 'Voices of Motherhood: A History of Maternal Activism from the Women's Co-Operative Guild to Pregnant then Screwed'.

Foreword: Women Politicians or Women-oriented Politics?, Laura BeersIntroduction, Ruth Davidson, Farah Hussain, Lyndsey Jenkins, and Anna MuggeridgePart I: Structures and Institutions1. Women and the Liberal Party in the 1940s and 50s, Anna Muggeridge and Maggie Andrews2. Women, party politics, and Welsh local government, 1945-1997: a cause in common?, Daryl Leeworthy3. 'We are therefore asking you to provide us with more suitable facilities': women MPs and parliamentary space, 1945-1997, Lisa Berry-Waite4. Women and the Conservative Monday Club, c. 1961-1991, N. C. Fleming5. Municipal socialist feminisms: local authority women's committees in the 1980s, Krista Cowman6. Building alliances and making enemies: the quest for gender quotas within the Labour Party, Emma LundinPart II: Campaigns and Causes7. 'School for women MPs'? Non-party women's organisations and increasing female representation, Gillian Murphy8. End of an era? Labour women's activism in South Wales, c.1945-1960s, Micaela Panes9. Women MPs, Petitions, and Representation, Anna Bocking-Welch, Richard Huzzey, Cristina Leston-Bandeira, and Henry Miller10. 'I am one of the few people here...physically capable of appreciating...exactly what an unwanted pregnancy can mean.': abortion discourse from women MPs in Parliament 1966-1990, Olivia Dee11. 'Opportunities for new beginnings': women and the politics of Scottish devolution, Tom Chidwick12. After inertia: Doreen Lawrence, the press, and political power in Britain 1993-1999, Jessica White13. 'Sit down all you silly women': forming the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, 1996-1998, Susie Deedigan and Deirdre FoleyPart III: Careers and Experiences14. Florence Horsburgh MP: from 'women's town' to Cabinet Minister, 1931-1955, Jim Tomlinson15. Women in Parliamentary delegations: Muriel Nichol and Elaine Burton, Mari Takayanagi16. 'Questions of social justice rather than feminism': Lena Jeger and 'women's issues' on the Labour backbenches in the 1950s and 1960s, Lyndsey Jenkins17. 'The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world': the role of women in the Conservative Party's international affairs, 1959-78, Gary Love18. Women in leadership positions in London local government in the 1980s: personal reflections, Mary Honeyball19. 'I am only a lucky mother': Gee Bernard and political ambivalence, Daniel Frost20. 'It's got to be possible': women's political careers and family lives since the 1960s as told to the History of Parliament Trust's oral history project, Emma Peplow and Priscila PivattoAfterword, Sarah Childs