In the 1820s, a group of women began meeting in a private house in London, to discuss the issues of the time and to promote the idea of women's rights. They founded the first all-women political party in the UK, called the Women's Equality Party, and they were also the first women to run for office in the UK.

In the years that followed, the women in the party became more and more involved in political action. They were involved in many important events that took place in the 20th century, and they helped to pass the Equal Pay Act, the Women's Right Convention, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Representation of Women Act, the creation of the British Women's Association, the passage of the Twenty-Eight Amendment to the US Constitution, and the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment in the US.