Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor

The first woman to take her seat in the Commons, Astor used the private members' route to pass the Intoxicating Liquor (Sale to Persons under Eighteen) Act of 1923, the law that set 18 as the age for buying alcohol in pubs. It was the first private member's bill introduced by a woman to become law. Her wider record, including later sympathy for appeasement and antisemitic remarks, is rightly criticised, but the legislative achievement stands on its own terms.