TODAY, there is a record number of 208 female MPs sitting in the House of Commons and although this is encouraging, that number accounts for only 32 per cent of all MPs.
The first female MP to be elected to Westminster was Constance Markievicz in 1918, but as she was an Irish Republican, she did not take her seat.
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It was the American Nancy Astor, elected in 1919, who became the first female sitting MP and she represented Plymouth.
In the 1945 General Election, 24 female MPs were elected and the numbers remained in the 20s for the following three decades.
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Ironically, in the General Election of 1979 – when Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister - the number dropped to just 19.
But by 1992 the number had risen to 60. Perhaps due to “Blair’s babes”, this doubled to 120 in the election of 1997. The election of 2001 saw 118 female MPs , rising to 128 in 2005, 143 in 2010, and 191 in 2015.
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