Women for Westminster , Bournemouth Branch

Women for Westminster (1943-1949) was established in 1943. In 1940 Edith Summerskill raised the issue of women in parliament within the Six Point Group. This produced an initiative with the aim of returning 100 women to parliament. However, the war and other concerns meant that it was not until Mrs Rebecca Sieff and Teresa Billington-Greig established a committee within the Women's Publicity Planning Association (WPPA) to deal with the issue in Jan 1942 that attention was paid to this area by a single issue group. The committee eventually became an independent organisation the following year with the name of Women for Westminster. It was a non-party organisation with a number of local branches which aimed to encourage women in individual constituency parties to nominate a woman candidate, thus avoiding the hostility aroused when outside women's organisations attempted to apply pressure. Summerskill, Tate, Cazalet-Keir and Corbett Ashby were all members but the group had limited success: in 1945, out of 87 women candidates, only 12 were returned and they already held seats. Despite having 46 branches, financial problems beset the organisation, which received only £1,000 in 1946. By the end of the decade, they were under pressure to amalgamate with other organisations. They refused an approach from the Six Point Group but accepted a merger with the National Women's Citizenship Association in 1949.