Records of the Women for Westminster Bournemouth Branch

Minutes of the Bournemouth branch meetings and of the Executive Committee.

<p>The papers of the national body of the Women for Westminster group, its Hampstead branch and its predecessor the Central Women's Electoral Committee, as well as those of the predecessor organisation the Central Women's Electoral Committee, are contained in the Women's Library amongst the papers of Teresa Billington-Greig (see 7/TBG) while the Women's Library also holds the papers of the Women's Publicity and Planning Association (see 5/WPP).</p>

This collection is open for consultation. Intending readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

Before the outbreak of the Second World War, there was concern amongst women's groups about the small numbers of women who had taken seats in Parliament. Early in 1937, various bodies began to investigate ways of increasing this number and the number at all levels of government. In Glasgow, an ad hoc committee was established by the Scottish Council of Women's Citizens Associations and the Women's Freedom League. This was called the Glasgow Women's Representation Committee. A Women's Freedom League conference in London, attended by representatives of societies from thoughout the UK, was where a provisional committee was elected, headed by Maria Ogilvie Gordon (chair), Teresa Billington-Greig (convenor), EE Froud, Mary Morris and Mrs Raphael Nahon. At the first meeting, the final form of what became the Central Women's Electoral Committee was established and delegates elected. However, the organisers quickly had reservations about its structure and it seemed as if major changes were about to be made when Ogilvie died and war became imminent. The committee was wound up in that year. However, efforts were made by Edith Summerskill in 1940 to raise the issue within the Six Point Group. This produced an initiative with the aim of returning 100 women to parliament. However, the war and other concerns meant that it was not until Mrs Rebecca Sieff and Teresa Billington-Greig established a committee within the Women's Publicity Planning Association to deal with the issue in January 1942 that attention was paid to this area by a single issue group. The committee eventually became an independent organisation the following year with the name of Women for Westminster. It was a non-party organisation with a number of local branches which aimed to encourage women in individual constituency parties to nominate a woman candidate, thus avoiding the hostility aroused when outside women's organisations attempted to apply pressure. Summerskill, Tate, Cazalet-Keir and Corbett Ashby were all members but the group had limited.

success: in 1945, out of 87 women candidates, only 12 were returned and they already held seats. Despite having 46 branches, financial problems beset the organisation, which received only £1000 in 1946. By the end of the decade, they were under pressure to amalgamate with other organisations. They refused an approach from the Six Point Group but accepted a merger with the National Women's Citizenship Association in 1949.