Voice and Vote: A hidden history revealed
4 min read
By exceeding its visitor target, the ‘Voice and Vote’ exhibition has realised its aim of bringing more than 200 years of women’s history in Parliament to the forefront, writes co-curator Melanie Unwin
When the 'Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament' exhibition opened in Westminster Hall in June, we set ourselves the ambitious target of 100,000 visitors before it closed on 6 October. Just over three months on, we are pleased to confirm we exceeded this target.
My co-curator, Senior Archivist Mari Takayanagi, and I have been actively researching and promoting women’s history in Parliament since 2008. In 2014 we presented the initial proposal for the exhibition to the Speaker’s Art Fund who agreed to fund the exhibition, with further contributions made by both Houses.
While the journey to design and build the exhibition was filled with challenges, we achieved what we set out to do – to bring more than 200 years of women’s involvement, engagement, campaigning and participation in Parliament to the forefront.
Our exhibition designers Metaphor designed the exhibition’s four immersive spaces, including the Ventilator, a loft above the ceiling of the Commons Chamber, which was an unofficial space used by women to watch debates in the pre-1834 era. Although difficult to see and hear, research from York University found that the women could hear well enough to be engaged critics of Members’ performances. A rare original sketch of women around the Ventilator was spotted on Twitter, and we were able to include it in the exhibition alongside our re-creation.
The exhibition told the story of the first suffrage petitioners in the 19th century, the marches, the public antipathy and police action on the women who campaigned for the vote into the 20th century, as well as looking at the pioneering male campaigners. On display was the original grille from the Ladies’ Gallery (nicknamed ‘The Tomb’) that suffragettes Helen Fox and Muriel Matters attached themselves to in 1908 and the famous ‘proclamation banner’ they dropped into the Chamber. We also displayed the bolt cutters used to remove women who chained themselves to the building.
The exhibition told the story of women involved in the campaign for votes, who were often imprisoned and force-fed. We were particularly pleased to put on public display for the first-time items belonging to working-class campaigner Alice Hawkins from the Women’s Social and Political Union including a prison medal, badges and collection of memorabilia loaned by her family.
After a display of the iconic three Acts, which gave women the vote and allowed them to stand for Parliament for the first time, visitors entered ‘The Tomb’ the name also given to the first Lady Members’ room by its occupants, which was shared by female MPs regardless of party affiliation. Some women MPs had to sit on the floor to do their paperwork and hold meetings in corridors though, as the displayed scrapbooks of Nora Runge MP showed, despite the working conditions their busy lives balancing Parliament and constituency matters were much the same as MPs experience today.
Women didn’t enter the Lords until 1958 and the story of this campaign and eventual success is told through documents from the Parliamentary Archives including the Lords Test Roll signed by the first four women to take their seats.
In the final space, we recreated today’s modern Chamber, where people heard testimony from a range of current and former parliamentarians. The wall was inscribed with the names of each female MP, from Constance Markievicz to Janet Daby, whose election preceded the opening of the exhibition by a matter of weeks. More than one MP was moved to see their name among what is to this day a relatively small number of women.
At the end of the exhibition, we asked visitors to commit to doing one thing to engage with Parliament as a result of seeing the exhibition, whether that be starting or signing a petition, registering to vote, or standing for office themselves. This is what the exhibition was all about. Revealing the hidden history of women in Parliament should help inspire us all to make use of the rights that women of generations past dedicated their lives to. The journey for women’s political equality has been a long one, and one that is not over yet. Mari and I hope we have delivered a fitting tribute, in this important centenary year for women’s suffrage, that tells for the first time the story of women in Parliament.
Melanie Unwin is Voice and Vote Co-Curator
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