Catalogue Number
NMLH.1995.39.518
Object Name
Poster
Title
'The New Voter:- "Poor Old Dears! - Isn't It Pathetic?"'
People
Labour Party, Suffragettes, Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, David Lloyd George
Events
Elections, 1929 General Election
Date
1929
Description
A cartoon of a young white woman 'The New Voter' in stylish red 1920s clothing with short red hair. She is speaking to Labour Party leader, Ramsay MacDonald, an older white man with a moustache, white hair, wearing a modern suit and tan hat. In the background, Liberal and Conservative Party leaders Stanley Baldwin and David Lloyd George are wearing old fashioned suits and tipping their top hats and winking at her. She tells MacDonald 'Poor old dears! Isn't it pathetic?'
The poster was painted by Ern Shaw, for the Labour Party's 1929 general election campaign. The new young female voter is attracted by Labour's Ramsay MacDonald who is portrayed as modern and respectful compared to the patronising, old fashioned leaders of the Liberal and Conservative parties.
Since 1918, only women over 30 who owned property or were university graduates could vote. Now, all adult women could vote equally with men. Adult at the time was defined as over 21, and all political parties tried to secure votes from younger women by designing election material targeting them directly.
*On Display*
