Earlier this year, we commemorated the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918. More than 5 million mainly working-class men received the vote, and nearly 8.5 million women also became voters. But these women did not receive the franchise on an equal basis. Rather, under that Act, new women voters had to be over 30 years of age. They or their husbands also had to meet stringent property qualifications. Equality in terms of the franchise had to wait another decade. It was on 2 July 1928 that the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act became law. This granted all women aged over 21 the vote, regardless of the property they owned, regardless of their husbands.

Some commentators have referred to the consensus and lack of controversy over this, suggesting, perhaps, that there is an air of historic inevitability. We must not make the mistake of overlooking the transformative nature of the 1928 Act. Politics became more representative. The electorate of Aberdare, for example, swelled by around 7,000, and, finally, women could now vote on an equal basis to men. Neglecting this historic occasion also does a disservice to the campaigners who fought during the intervening period for this principle of equality, campaigners like the Viscountess Rhondda. As the 1928 Act celebrates its ninetieth birthday, we remember what one commentator has called 'this simplest, yet most radical of reforms'.