Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

People

Election address of Helen Crawfurd, Communist candidate for Govan ward, 1 Nov 1921

Election address of Helen Crawfurd who was contesting the Govan ward in the Glasgow municipal wlections of 1 November 1921 as a candidate for the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Helen Crawfurd was originally a member of the Independent Labour Party and was one of the leaders of the rent strikes of 1915 along with Agnes Dollan and local figures like Mary Barbour and Mary Laird. As leader of the Women's Peace Crusade of 1916-17, Helen Crawfurd was also a vociferous anti-war and anti-conscription campaigner.

Unusually for this period, Helen Crawfurd in her election address stresses her commitment to improving the political and economic status of women. This is one of the earliest examples of a political candidate in Britain making gender into a political issue.