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Women in the organisation of the Conservative Party in Wales, 1945–1979

Sam Blaxland

Women's History Review, Pages: 1 - 21

Swansea University Author: Sam Blaxland

Abstract

Women were vital to the health and survival of the Conservative Party in Wales during the period 1945-1979, and yet they - like the party more generally in Wales - have been understudied and misinterpreted. Although they were often bastions of social conservatism, some of these women from the right...

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Published in: Women's History Review
ISSN: 0961-2025 1747-583X
Published: 2018
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40710
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Abstract: Women were vital to the health and survival of the Conservative Party in Wales during the period 1945-1979, and yet they - like the party more generally in Wales - have been understudied and misinterpreted. Although they were often bastions of social conservatism, some of these women from the right broke the mould of a traditional Tory lady, acting as brave and independently-minded political campaigners, reflecting more of the features of second-wave feminism than even they would have admitted. Another traditional aspect of women's activity in local Conservative Associations was back-room office work, but this article suggests that there was more to their political identities than this: these groups could be a conduit for middle-class women to exercise a form of social and organisational leadership. Therefore, many were far from the coy and passive figures that they tend to be stereotyped as.
Keywords: Women, Conservatives, Wales, leadership, feminism
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Start Page: 1
End Page: 21