75 Years Since the First Woman Was Elected to the States Assembly
8 December 2023
75 Years since the First Woman was Elected to the States Assembly
Friday 8 December marks the 75th anniversary of the first woman to be elected to Jersey's States Assembly. It took thirty years after women secured the vote before Ivy Forster became a Deputy in 1948, representing St Helier.
Mrs Forster came into the public eye following the German occupation of the Island in WWII, when she and her sister, Louisa Gould, sheltered escaped Russian forced labourers. Her brother and sister were sent to concentration camps after all three were put on trial and convicted, but Ivy was allowed to serve her sentence in Jersey due to ill health.
Ivy wasn't the first woman to stand for election in Jersey - after women over 30 were given the vote in 1919, Caroline Trachy stood in 1922, but she was disqualified on the grounds of her gender. Ms Trachy went on to fight for political reform to enable female candidates to stand. The law was eventually changed equitably in 1928.
The UK had elected their first female MP to the House of Commons 30 years earlier. Constance Markievicz was elected in 1918, the year that a section of the female population over 30 was given the right to vote. As an Irish Nationalist, Constance didn't, however, take her seat. It was Nancy Astor who became the first woman to sit as an MP after winning a by-election in 1919.
Did you Know?
- The current States Assembly is our most diverse in its history, with 21 women and 28 men, and our first female Chief Minister. Up until the last States Assembly term of office, only 45 women had been elected to the States, so this term marks a significant achievement in gender equality.
- It wasn't until 1945 that men and women were permitted to vote in Jersey on an equal basis. Up until then, women had been restricted due to age or property rights.
About Ivy Forster:
- Ivy was born in 1907 and worked with her sister in the family business, La Fontaine Stores, Millais.
- After the war, she became an after-dinner speaker and it was the Bailiff, Sir Alexander Coutanche, who encouraged her to stand for election.
- Ivy served two terms, topping the poll in the 1951 election, but lost her seat in 1954.
- Ivy died aged 90 in June 1997.
