The London Society for Women’s Suffrage is formed to campaign for female suffrage. 

1870 

The Married Women’s Property Act allows married women to own their own property. Previously, when women married, their property transferred to their husbands.

1918 

Women over 30 are granted the right to vote in Britain.

1920 

The Sex Discrimination Removal Act allows women access to the legal profession and accountancy.

1928

 All women in Britain gain equal voting rights with men

1964 

The Married Women’s Property Act entitles a woman to keep half of any savings she has made from the allowance she is given by her husband.

1967 

Labour MP David Steel sponsors an Abortion Law Reform Bill, which becomes the Abortion Act. The Act decriminalises abortion in Britain on certain grounds. Originally, abortion was entirely illegal, but was changed to make it legal when the woman was in danger of dying. The contraceptive pill becomes available through Family Planning Clinics. 

1968 

Women at the Ford car factory in Dagenham strike over equal pay, almost stopping production at all Ford UK plants. Their protest led directly to the passing of the Equal Pay Act

1975 

The Sex Discrimination Act makes it illegal to discriminate against women in work, education and training.

1975 

The Employment Protection Act makes it illegal to sack a woman because she is pregnant.

1975
 The Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act come into effect and equal opportunities commission established

1976

 The Race Relations Act makes it illegal to discriminate on grounds of race in employment and education.

1979 

Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female prime minister

1994 

Rape in marriage is made a crime after 15 years of serious campaigning by women’s organisations. 

1994
 Trade Union reform and Employment Rights Act guarantees every working woman the right to maternity leave for the first time.