thumb|upright=1.2|A British cartoon speculating on why imprisoned suffragettes refused to eat in prison thumb|upright|Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons in 1918, but as an Irish nationalist she did not take her seat, instead joining the First Dáil. In 1919 she was appointed Minister for Labour, the first female minister in a democratic government cabinet. The campaign for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland gained momentum throughout the early part of the 19th century, as women became increasingly politically active, particularly during the campaigns to reform suffrage in the United Kingdom. John Stuart Mill, elected to Parliament in 1865 and an open advocate of female suffrage (about to publish The Subjection of Women), campaigned for an amendment to the Reform Act 1832 to include female suffrage.Nelson, Carolyn Christensen (2004). Literature of the women's suffrage campaign in England, p. 3. Broadview Press. Retrieved February 29, 2012. Roundly defeated in an all-male parliament under a Conservative government, the issue of women's suffrage came to the fore.
thumb|upright=1.2|A British cartoon speculating on why imprisoned suffragettes refused to eat in prison thumb|upright|Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons in 1918, but as an Irish nationalist she did not take her seat, instead joining the First Dáil. In 1919 she was appointed Minister for Labour, the first female minister in a democratic government cabinet. The campaign for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland gained momentum throughout the early part of the 19th century, as women became increasingly politically active, particularly during the campaigns to reform suffrage in the United Kingdom. John Stuart Mill, elected to Parliament in 1865 and an open advocate of female suffrage (about to publish The Subjection of Women), campaigned for an amendment to the Reform Act 1832 to include female suffrage.Nelson, Carolyn Christensen (2004). Literature of the women's suffrage campaign in England, p. 3. Broadview Press. Retrieved February 29, 2012. Roundly defeated in an all-male parliament under a Conservative government, the issue of women's suffrage came to the fore.