Conciliation Bills facts for kids

The Conciliation Bills were special plans for new laws in the United Kingdom. These plans aimed to give some women the right to vote. The idea was to let about a million wealthy women who owned property vote in elections.

After the election in January 1910, a group of politicians from different parties came together. This group was called the Conciliation Committee. It had 36 members of parliament and was led by Lord Lytton. They suggested a new law called the Parliamentary Franchise (Women) Bill.

Three Conciliation Bills were presented to the House of Commons (a part of the UK Parliament). One bill was proposed each year in 1910, 1911, and 1912. However, none of them became law.

Even though the Liberal government, led by Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, supported the idea, some politicians did not. These were "backbenchers" (MPs who are not government ministers) from both the Conservative and Liberal parties. They worried that giving women the vote might hurt their party's chances in future general elections.

Some groups who wanted women to vote (pro-suffrage groups) didn't like the Bills. This was because the Bills only gave the vote to women who owned property, not all women. Other Members of Parliament simply didn't want any women to have the right to vote at all. Some Liberals also opposed the Bill because they thought the women who would get to vote were more likely to vote for the Conservative Party.

The 1910 Conciliation Bill

Prime Minister Asquith agreed to make time in Parliament for the 1910 Bill. This happened after other government ministers put pressure on him. The Bill passed its first vote in Parliament. It then passed a second vote on 12 July, with 320 votes for and 175 against.

However, Asquith called a new general election on 18 November 1910. This meant that the Bill could not continue its journey through Parliament. The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), a leading women's suffrage group, felt this was a betrayal. Their protest march against this decision became known as Black Friday.

The 1911 Conciliation Bill

The Second Conciliation Bill was discussed on 5 May 1911. It was a Private Members Bill, meaning it was introduced by an individual MP, not the government. It won a large majority, with 255 votes for and 88 against. The government promised to give the Bill a week of time for further debate.

However, in November, Prime Minister Asquith announced something new. He said he supported a "manhood suffrage" bill. This kind of bill would give all men the right to vote. He suggested that women's suffrage supporters could try to add an amendment (a change) to this bill to allow some women to vote. Because of this, the 1911 Conciliation Bill was dropped.

The 1912 Conciliation Bill

The Parliamentary Franchise (Women) Bill was introduced again on 19 February 1912. It was scheduled for its Second Reading vote on 22 March, but this was later moved to 29 March. This time, the Bill was defeated. There were 208 votes for it and 222 votes against it.

One main reason for its defeat was that the Irish Parliamentary Party believed that debating votes for women would stop them from getting "Irish home rule." Home rule meant Ireland would have its own government, separate from the UK Parliament.

However, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) blamed Prime Minister Asquith for the defeat. They pointed out that eight members of the government had voted against the Bill. If those eight had voted the other way, the Bill would have passed.

A separate Franchise Bill, which aimed for universal manhood suffrage (giving all men the vote), was introduced in 1912. But this bill also faced strong criticism and did not make any progress.

See also

• Representation of the People Act 1918 - This law gave some women in the UK the right to vote.
• Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 - This law gave all women in the UK the right to vote, just like men.