Electoral firsts in the United Kingdom

This article lists notable achievements of women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and gay/lesbian/bisexual and transgendered people in British Politics.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Women

Women over 30 granted the right to vote: 1918

Women granted the right to vote on the same terms as men: 1928

First female MPs:

• Countess Markievicz, Sinn Féin MP for Dublin St Patrick's, from 1918-1922

Due to the abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin, Markievicz never took her seat in Westminster.

• Viscountess Astor, Conservative MP for Plymouth Sutton,from 1919-1945

First female cabinet minister

• Margaret Bondfield, Labour MP, 1923–4 and 1926–31 and Minister of Labour, 1929–31

First female prime minister

• Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Prime Minister 1979-1990

Blind persons

First blind MP

• Henry Fawcett, Liberal MP for Brighton, 1864-1874

First blind Cabinet member

• David Blunkett, Labour Secretary of State for Education, 1997 to 2001, then Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004

Persons in a wheelchair

First MP in a wheelchair

• Anne Begg, Labour MP for Aberdeen South, 1997–present

Black Britons

First black MPs:

• Bernie Grant, Labour MP for Tottenham, 1987–2000
• Paul Boateng, Labour MP for Brent South, 1987–2005
• Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, 1987–Present

-All elected in the 1987 election

First black woman MP

• Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, 1987–Present

British Chinese

First Chinese Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland

• Anna Lo (盧曼華), Alliance Party MLA for Belfast South, 2007–present

South Asians

• Note: South Asians include those of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Nepalese or Bangladeshi ancestry.

First South Asian MP

• Dadabhai Naoroji, Liberal MP for Finsbury Central, from 1892-1895

First South Asian Member of the Welsh Assembly

• Mohammad 'Oscar' Asghar, Conservative AM for South Wales East from 2007–present

First South Asian Member of the Scottish Parliament

• Bashir Ahmad, Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow, from 2007-2009

Jews

First Jewish MP

• Lionel de Rothschild, Liberal MP for City of London, from 1847-1868

First Jewish speaker in the House of Commons

• John Bercow, 2009–Present

Homosexuals

First openly gay MP: Chris Smith, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, from 1983-2005