1971: The World This Weekend - Women in the Conservative Party
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Margaret Howard reports on the history of women in the Conservative Party now that it has 15 female MPs. Some of them are interviewed in this report, including Joan Hall, Dame Irene Ward and Margaret Thatcher. Mrs Thatcher comments that there should be more opportunities for women in the future, though she doesn't think there will be a female prime minister in her lifetime.
Dame Irene Ward was MP for Wallsend from 1931 to 1945, then returned to Parliament in 1950 as MP for Tynemouth and served until 1974, becoming the longest-serving female MP at the time. She was a forceful character who campaigned for women's economic rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
