WOMEN in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd have been encouraged to celebrate their right to vote by their MP.

To mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, passed on 6 February 1918, giving some women the right to vote in the UK for the first time, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts is encouraging women to celebrate their right to vote.

Last week, Mrs Saville Roberts celebrated her right to vote, 100 years on from some women first getting the right, and called on women across Dwyfor Meirionnydd to join her for the anniversary by posting pictures of them saying ‘I vote’.

Electoral Commission research has found three quarters of women say they always vote at general elections; two in three women were motivated to vote by civic responsibility at the 2017 Parliamentary general election and women were four times more likely than men to say that ‘people fought to win them the right to vote’ as a motivation for casting their ballot.

Mrs Saville Roberts said: “The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an important step towards securing the rights women have today but while women’s representation at Westminster has climbed painfully slowly to 32 per cent, we have yet to achieve equality.

“Commemorating one hundred years since the passing of the Act is a timely opportunity for us to reflect on the progress we have made.

“We as women today are indebted to the bravery and resolve of those women who fought and in some cases died for justice and equality and we must never forget the sacrifices they made.

“A record number of women were elected to Parliament at the 2017 General Election – but there is still a lot more work to do and I look forward to working alongside organisations in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd to continue the fight for a more equal society.”