Political Alliances of WSPU and NUWSS

At the start of the suffrage movement in the mid-19th century, British politics were made up of two groups. These were 'The Whigs and Tories' (Parliament, 2014).

AS the 19th century moved on, the Whigs and Tories evolved into more mainstream parties. The Whigs became the 'Liberals' and the 'Tories' became the Conservatives. These two parties remained a dominating force in politics until the 1920's when Britain saw the formation of Ramsay McDonald's party 'New Labour' (Mortimer, 2000)

Satirical print with upside-down heads: Whigs / Tories

https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10472/4849

NUWWS

Claiming to have no political ties, many suffragists did hold close links with the Liberal Party or showed sympathy towards the party aims as most NUWSS members were family members of Liberal politicians (Mortimer, 2000).

The NUWSS would actively campaign and show their support for any party or candidate who showed support for the female vote (Mortimer, 2000).

MIllicent Fawcett, a liberal, became increasingly frustrated at  the Liberal's delaying tactics, this made Fawcett show her support more towards labour candidates at the time of the election. (Mortimer, 2000).

WSPU

Active members of WSPU vehemently opposed and openly criticised Liberal and Labour and their candidates (Purvis, 2002).

1907 saw a turnaround in WSPU tactics, gradually portraying itself as a more middle class organisation and distancing themselves from the Labour Party (Purvis, 2002).

Leading members of WSPU, the Pankhursts, upset senior members of WSPU with their militant actions and aggressive campaigning. This led to the formation of the Womens Freedom League (WFL) in 1907 by 70 members of WSPU which included Teresa Billington-Greig, Charlotte Despard, Elizabeth How-Martyn, and Margaret Nevinson (Trueman, 2000).