Photo credit Yorkshire Liberal Democrats
Women became eligible to stand for election to Parliament in 1918 and the first woman Liberal MP was elected in 1921. Yet until 1986, only four women ever sat as Liberal MPs, half of whom were elected at by-elections. Between 1951 and 1986 there were no Liberal women MPs at all. Then came the Ryedale by-election and Elizabeth Shields. Elizabeth joined the Party in 1964 after being canvassed by what she describes as ‘an enthusiastic young man’ who talked about the Party’s values and beliefs until she realised they chimed with her own. So she paid 2 shillings and 6d (half a crown) or 12 and 1/2p in decimal coinage and became a member of the party.
Elizabeth became a local councillor and a parliamentary candidate. She stood for Howden in 1979 and then Ryedale in 1983 losing the latter by 16,000 votes. Three years later, the Conservative sitting MP died and Elizabeth was again our candidate. She not only gained the seat with 50.03% of the vote, overturning the huge majority, she won with a respectable margin of 4,940 votes. A swing of 19%. Importantly, she ended the long wait for a woman to be elected as a Liberal MP. Sadly, the Conservative regained the seat at the 1987 General Election but in the forty years since, the Party has never been without a woman MP. Elizabeth wrote about her experience of being an M.P. in her book ‘A year to remember’.
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