It is exactly 100 years ago this week that the post-world war general election was held on 14 December 1918. The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 had only just received Royal Assent on 21 November 1918. The Act gave women over the age of 21 the right to stand for election to the House of Commons. In that general election on 14 December, one Welsh woman stood for election, and her name was Millicent Mackenzie. She stood for the University of Wales seat as a Labour candidate. She won 20 per cent of the vote and lost to the Liberal Sir Herbert Lewis. Only one woman was elected as an MP in that 1918 election, Constance Markievicz, and as a Sinn Féin candidate she did not take up her seat in the House of Commons. 

Who was Millicent Mackenzie, the first ever woman to stand for election in Wales? In addition to being a candidate in that election, Millicent Mackenzie was a professor of education at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, as Cardiff University was then known. She was the first female professor in any UK chartered university. She was a highly respected educational academic and a trainer of teachers. Millicent Mackenzie was also a leading suffragette in the Cardiff area, culminating in her standing in the 1918 election. Such is the lack of prominence of women in our history, I had not heard of Millicent Mackenzie's name until January of this year. But, we must not allow this pioneering woman's name to be forgotten during the next 100 years. As 27 women AMs in this Senedd, we thank you, Millicent, and we stand on your shoulders. Millicent Mackenzie.