Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor

The first woman to sit in the Commons, from 1919, Astor spent years as the only woman in a chamber designed for men, with no women's lavatory nearby and members who openly hoped she would fail. She used the role deliberately, working across party with later women MPs on causes including the 1923 act raising the drinking age and the campaign for equal franchise at 21, achieved in 1928. Her later sympathies for appeasement and her antisemitic remarks are part of the record.