Nancy Astor and Gendered Interwar Politics

Nancy Astor: first steps towards a better balanced world
2019-11-08 14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/London) | The National Archives, Bessant Drive Richmond, London, TW9 4DU, United Kingdom
Opening up the electorate in 1918 to some women voters naturally triggered a conversation about female parliamentarians. Under the 1918 Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, Nancy Astor was the first female MP to take her seat.
In this talk, Dr Jacqui Turner will reflect on Astor’s achievements and how she has become a totem for women and democracy, despite her flaws.
8 November
National Archive, Kew
Public lecture and UMASCS exhibition

Panel discussion at House of Commons
2019-11-19
Nancy: ‘blasted American whore of a chorus-girl’
19 November
House of Commons
The Policy Institute, Global Women’s Leadership Group and Women2Win – panel discussion to celebrate 100 years of women parliamentarians and the myriad of challenges that face women candidates and MPs today

'Nancy Astor' train naming (Paddington Station) and statue unveiling (Plymouth Hoe)
2019-11-28
GWR will be naming a train the ‘Nancy Astor’ at a ceremony at Paddington Station, Platform 8,at 7am on 28 November. The inaugural journey wil be a special service carrying guests to Plymouth in time for the unveiling of a bronze statue of Nancy Astor, the first female to take her seat in Parliament.
The unveiling will take place at 1pm on Plymouth Hoe, one hundred years to the day since Nancy Astor won the Plymouth bi-election.
Both ceremonies will be attended by the Astor family, project partners including representatives from the Astor Statue committee led by Alexis Bowater, the National Trust at Cliveden, the Parliamentary archives and Astor 100 project Lead Dr Jacqui Turner.
For your chance to travel on the train’s inaugural journey to Plymouth to witness the historic events visit the statue crowdfunder page.
An hour by hour schedule for the day can be found here.

Plymouth statue unveiling
2019-11-28
Only a few days to go before the historic unveiling of the Nancy Astor Statue on Plymouth Hoe.
For an hour by hour schedule for the day visit the Lady Astor Statue website here.

Nancy Astor Display in Parliament
2020-01-09 - 2020-03-19
To celebrate Astor100, the Parliamentary Archives have put on a small display, ‘Nancy Astor: the first woman MP at Westminster.’ It could be visited between 14 November – 2 December 2019 however, it needed to be removed to allow for State Opening works but will be back in the House of Lords as soon after State Opening as possible though it is difficult to predict exactly when that will be – possibly mid-January when it should run to early March 2020. Access is very restricted due to building works in Parliament, please email the Parliamentary Archives archives@parliament.uk with any queries. You can also view Parliament’s online exhibition on Nancy Astor.

Astor 100 and women’s parliamentary history: where do we go from here?
2020-02-26 18:00 - 20:30 | Portcullis House, United Kingdom
The History of Parliament Trust is delighted to invite you to our event in collaboration with the University of Reading on Wednesday 26th February in the Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, Westminster, from 18.00 to 20.30.
Join us for a panel discussion to explore the successes of the Astor 100 project, which took place throughout 2019 to mark 100 years of women in the House of Commons, as well as the lessons learnt for “doing” women’s parliamentary history in the public sphere. Our panellists are Dr Jacqui Turner (national programme lead for Astor 100), Alexis Bowater (the driving force behind the Lady Astor statue campaign), Hayley Gibbs (sculptor), and Professor Julie Gottlieb (expert in early twentieth century women’s political history and historical consultant for the Millicent Fawcett statue).
This event will be a forum to discuss women’s political history and its integration into the narrative of parliamentary history following the UK Parliament Vote 100 project in 2018 (which marked 100 years of votes for women) and Astor 100. We will invite questions and comments after the panel discussion, followed by the opportunity to view the Astor 100 touring display and chat with our panellists.
Notes on speakers
Jacqui Turner is Associate Professor of Modern British Political History at the University of Reading. She researches Nancy Astor and early female MPs largely between 1919 and 1931, working with the personal Papers of Nancy Astor. Jacqui is the academic and national programme lead for the Astor100 project and historical consultant for the Lady Astor statue in Plymouth.
Alexis Bowater (Bowater Communications) is an award-winning journalist and the Chair of the Nancy Astor Statue Committee. She led the campaign to raise a statue of Nancy Astor in collaboration with the Plymouth Women in Business Network. Alexis anchored the evening news in the ITV Westcountry region for seven years before becoming a campaigning Chief Executive of national charity Network for Surviving Stalking.
Hayley Gibbs is the sculptor of the Nancy Astor Statue, whose design was chosen by competitive bid. She delivered and installed the statue within 12 months. Hayley is an established sculptor based in South London. She is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and has created work for some historic sites including a life size bronze statue of William Shakespeare in collaboration with Raphael Maklouf.
Julie Gottlieb is Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield. She has published extensively on the history of politicization of women, and the feminisation of politics in the aftermath of suffrage in 20th century Britain, and has featured Nancy Astor in many of her works. Julie worked with the media to provide historical framing for the commemorative events of 2018 and 2019 and acted as historical advisor to artist Gillian Wearing on the statue of Millicent Garrett Fawcett that was unveiled in Parliament Square in April 2018.
Attendance is free, but you must register here in order to attend. Visitors to Portcullis House are advised to bring their ticket and photo ID. Please note that you will have to go through airport-style security to gain entrance to Parliament; we recommend arriving 20 minutes before the start of the event – at busy times there is often a queue. For more information on security and gaining access to the parliamentary estate please click here.
Please contact cjeffery@histparl.ac.uk with any queries.
For further details and to register

OLH Special Collection: Nancy Astor Public Women and Gendered Political Culture in Interwar Britain
2020-07-09 08:00 - 17:00
We are very pleased to announce that the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor is now live at the Open Library of Humanities. The Special Collection is edited by Dr Daniel Grey (University of Hertfordshire) and Dr Jacqui Turner (University of Reading). Daniel Grey is Head of History at Hertfordshire and has published extensively on women, crime and the state. Jacqui Turner is Associate Professor of Modern British Political History and curator of the national Astor100 centenary programme. Articles will be added on an ongoing basis – keep an eye on this space!
OLH Special Collection: Nancy Astor Public Women and Gendered Political Culture in Interwar Britain
