Nancy Astor: the first woman MP

In this episode we’ll meet Nancy Astor, the first woman MP; Margaret Bondfield, the first women cabinet member; and Helena Normanton, the first woman to be called to the bar, amongst many others. Through their stories we’ll learn about not only the Representation of the People Act, but the subsequent laws that gave women increasingly greater equality in the 1920s; and how the first women in Parliament were burdened with representing their sex as well as their constituencies. 'Bloody Brilliant Women: The Pioneers, Revolutionaries and Geniuses Your History Teacher Forgot to Mention' is available in paperback from Waterstones (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomenWS) and Amazon (po.st/BloodyBrilliantWomen ), audiobook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenAudio) and eBook (po.st/iTunesBrilliantWomenE) from Apple Books. Cathy Newman (Twitter): @cathynewman Cathy Newman (Instagram): cathynewmanc4 William Collins: @WmCollinsBooks