| Battle of Downing Street | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Christabel andEmmeline Pankhurst, 1910 | |||
| Date | 22 November 1910 (1910-11-22) | ||
| Location | Downing Street,London, England 51°30′11.6″N0°07′39.0″W / 51.503222°N 0.127500°W /51.503222; -0.127500 | ||
| Methods | Demonstration, smashing windows | ||
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| Arrests | |||
| Arrested | 159 women; three men | ||
| Preceded by:Black Friday | |||
TheBattle of Downing Street was a march ofsuffragettes toDowning Street, London, on 22 November 1910. Organized byEmmeline Pankhurst'sWomen's Social and Political Union, the march took place four days afterBlack Friday, a suffragette protest outside theHouse of Commons that saw the women violently by police.[1]
Taking place in the context of the debate over theConciliation Bill 1910 (giving a limited number of women the vote according to property and marital status), the march was a direct response to a statement by the Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith that: "The Government will, if they are still in power, give facilities in the next Parliament for effectively proceeding with a Bill which is framed so as to admit of free amendment", which suggested that the bill would have no chance of being passed.[2]
Emmeline andChristabel Pankhurst were atCaxton Hall when news arrived of Asquith's speech; Christabel announced to the audience that it was a declaration of war: "The promise for next parliament is an absurd mockery of a pledge. They have been talking of declarations of war. We also declare war from this moment." Emmeline told the crowd: "I am going to Downing Street. Come along, all of you."[3]
Around 200 women marched on Downing Street, smashing windows at theColonial Office andHome Office, and on Asquith's car;[4] Emmeline Pankhurst and her sister,Mary Clarke, were arrested, along with another 157 women and three men. Clarke was arrested for throwing a stone through the window atCanon Row Police Station, where Pankhurst was being held, after the police refused to let Clarke see her.[5] About 20 women approached10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence, from the back and swarmed aroundAugustine Birrell, theChief Secretary for Ireland. He said they "pulled me about and hustled me, 'stroked' my face [and] knocked off my hat". In trying to get away, he was left with a twisted knee andslipped kneecap.[6] Birrell did not seek a prosecution; he wrote to theHome Secretary,Winston Churchill, on 21 February 1911: "[L]et the matter drop but keep your eye on the hags in question."[7]
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