What WOULD the Suffragettes make of their rather racy relations?

EXACTLY 100 years ago today, after decades of bitter struggle, the Representation of the People Act gave British women the vote for the first time — thanks to the brave and tireless actions of the suffragettes.

Well, not all women got the vote: only those who were over 30, who owned property or were graduates in a university constituency.

But it was a start. It took another ten years for the vote to be extended to ALL women, on the same terms as men enjoyed.

The campaign had been savage, with many suffragettes resorting to measures such as torching politicians’ houses, chaining themselves to railings, slashing works of art, stone-throwing and even planting bombs.

Many of those who were imprisoned and went on hunger strike were force-fed. Famously, one woman made the ultimate sacrifice: Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby.

These were warriors to the female cause — paving the way for full female emancipation, women MPs and two female Prime Ministers.

So what would these lionhearts make of the fact that of their descendants, several have chosen to make their careers on the catwalk, of all places?

CATHERINE OSTLER examines the unlikely story of the heroines of female suffrage and their pouting, barely-clad successors…