Christabel Pankhurst polled the most votes at the election but failed to gain a seat: the only woman to be elected, Constance Markievicz, did not campaign and, as a Sinn Fein member, never took her seat.

BBC: Women in parliament

The British suffragettes, who often exchanged battle tactics with their American cousins, were led by clever middle-class women such as Christabel Pankhurst (1880-1958), who gained a first-class law degree, but was barred from practising in all-male courts.

ECONOMIST: Ruth Dyk