| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to assimilate the franchises for men and women in respect of parliamentary and local government elections; and for purposes consequential thereon. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 12 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 2 July 1928 |
| Commencement | 2 July 1928[b] |
| Repealed | 1 October 1948 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | Representation of the People Act 1918 |
| Repealed by | Representation of the People Act 1948 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
TheRepresentation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928[1] (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 12) was anact of theParliament of the United Kingdom. This act expanded on theRepresentation of the People Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) which had given some women the vote in Parliamentary elections for the first time afterWorld War I. It is sometimes referred to as theFifth Reform Act.[2][3]
The act widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men. It gave the vote to all women over 21 years old, regardless of property ownership. Prior to this act only women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications could vote.
The act was passed by theConservative Party without much opposition from other parties.[citation needed]
The bill became law on 2 July 1928, having been introduced in March. The leader of theNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societies who had campaigned for the vote,Millicent Fawcett, was still alive and attended the parliament session to see the vote take place. She wrote in her diary the same night "It is almost exactly 61 years ago since I heardJohn Stuart Mill introduce his suffrage amendment tothe Reform Bill on 20 May 1867. So I have had extraordinary good luck in having seen the struggle from the beginning.”[4]
On 5 August 1928,Millicent Fawcett obtained a letter from the prime ministerStanley Baldwin. He points out that even though there were obstacles in passing the bill, he always believed it would be ratified in "the simple and complete form it ultimately assumed".[5] He finishes the letter by expressing a hope that equal vote would be beneficial for the country and it would serve for the greater good in the United Kingdom.[5]
Section 8(1) of the act provided that the act may be cited as the "Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, 1928" and may be cited as aRepresentation of the People Act.
Section 8(4) of the act provided that the act would extend toNorthern Ireland so far as it relates to matters with respect to which the Parliament of Northern Ireland have no power to make laws.
The act added five million more women to the electoral roll and made women a majority, 52.7%, of the electorate in the1929 general election,[6] which was termed the "Flapper Election".[7]
The whole act was repealed by section 80 of, and the thirteenth schedule to, theRepresentation of the People Act 1948 (11 & 12 Geo. 6. c. 65).
