15 DECEMBER 1923, Page 2

The most notable individual successes of the election were undoubtedly

those of the eight women who have been elected. That Lady Astor, Mrs. Wintringham and Mrs. Philipson would be returned clice more to Parlia- ment was not unexpected, but that they will be joined by five other ladies has come as a surprise to all parties. For our part we think it one of the best features of the election that such women as the Duchess of Atholl, Lady Terrington and Miss Margaret Bondfield (Unionist, Liberal and Labour), to take a representative from each party, should have been returned to Parliament. It is for their deep and natural interest in social measures, which arc often of a non-party character and therefore are too apt to be forgotten, that we value the direct representation of women. We publish this week an article from Lady Astor on that most vital of all social problems, the sale and control of liquor. One of the features of the election has been the failure of those candidates who have been associated with the Trade, and the success of those who have made temperance reform one of their objects. We look forward to a Parliament which may reflect this undoubted current of opinion in the country. On the male side of the election there have been no remarkable successes. The men who will come back to Westminster are, for the most part, comparatively unknown representatives of the parties for which they stand.

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