Beliefs

This chapter explains why these women wanted the vote through a case study of Annie Kenney’s political beliefs. Annie Kenney’s autobiography, Memories of a Militant, is largely a justification of militancy activity: an explanation of how women sought to gain the vote, rather than an explanation of why she wanted it herself. Yet to understand why she and her sisters devoted their efforts to the cause, it is important to examine what they believed it signified. Annie Kenney tended to emphasize three main principles in her claims for the vote. First, that working-class women would benefit from enfranchisement because it would help them achieve better living and working conditions. Second, that all women, regardless of class, would benefit from joining the campaign, which she saw in moral and spiritual terms as transformative for women. Finally, she argued that women had both the desire and the duty to contribute to national life, framing her claims in terms of women’s potential and responsibility to serve the race, nation, and Empire. While these ideas will be familiar to scholars of suffrage, this chapter suggests they had the potential to cut across class. While focused on Annie Kenney, the chapter indicates possible reasons why working-class women were drawn not only to the suffrage cause but to the WSPU in particular. This chapter not only highlights the range and significance of the concerns which motivated Annie Kenney, but also identifies the limitations and consequences of her political vision.