Marion Coates Hansen

The fight for the right for women to vote in the UK began in the 1860s and most of the groups advocating for this joined together in 1897 as the National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). The WSPU broke away from the NUWSS and aimed to be more militant and forceful in their demands. They also believed that the current Liberal Government would not grant women the vote. They became known as Suffragettes.

At first the WSPU were supported by many male ILP members who shared their aims. But the WSPU had other ideas, mainly to act as a single entity away from the Labour Party and it adopted the tactic of protesting against the Liberal Party. Their actions came to a head in late 1906 in a Cockermouth by-election and they were condemned by the ILP. Marion initially felt very torn by her loyalties but resigned from the Middlesbrough ILP in protest.

She remained divided by both the ILP and the WSPU – she wanted to stand for both women’s rights and socialism, and these two groups who she felt could deliver her aims did not want to work together. She did eventually re-join the ILP.

Less than a year later she and other women were appalled at Emmeline Pankhurst’s decision to dissolve the WSPU’s committee and approve her own hand-picked committee. They were not in favour of Pankhurst’s increasingly autocratic control, but they still wanted to stand for women’s rights.  As a result, they resigned from the WSPU and founded the Women’s Freedom League (WFL). Marion was one of their first members.

The WFL was more closely involved in passive resistance than violence – its members refused to pay their taxes, chained themselves to places of interest such as the Palace of Westminster and in 1911 took part in the Census Boycott. This was when many women refused to take part in the 1911 Census, arguing if they were not treated as citizens with rights then they shouldn’t be recorded. Marion also took part in the boycott.

By 1912 it was clear that the WFL was divided in its leadership and many of its members decided to resign. Marion also resigned and became more dedicated to her work with the Middlesbrough ILP. She was still dedicated to women’s rights but also felt that they should work alongside the trade unions for a more democratic society rather than through violent protest.

Rights for women were granted in 1918 when women over thirty were given the right to vote and represent themselves in councils. Marion became Middlesbrough’s second woman councillor in 1919, with her sister-in-law, Alice Schofield Coates, becoming the first. In 1928 the vote was given to all women.

Marion was a member of Middlesbrough Council until 1935. With votes and more rights for women granted, she worked on fighting overcrowding and improving housing in the town. In 1937 she stood as an Independent candidate for the Cannon Street ward, and through the Second World War called for women to get a wage of around 15s (£34) a week and be organisers of air raid shelters and evacuations.

After her death in 1947 she was not as remembered as her Suffragette colleagues and her sister-in-law, but throughout her life she was committed to women’s rights and the rights of the working classes.