Page "Emmeline Pankhurst" Paragraph 27

One of her first activities with the ILP found Pankhurst distributing food to poor men and women through the Committee for the Relief of the Unemployed.

In December 1894 she was elected to the position of Poor Law Guardian in Chorlton-on-Medlock.

She was appalled by the conditions she witnessed first-hand in the Manchester workhouse: Pankhurst immediately began to change these conditions, and established herself as a successful voice of reform on the Board of Guardians.

Her chief opponent was a passionate man named Mainwaring, known for his rudeness.

Recognising that his loud anger was hurting his chances of persuading those aligned with Pankhurst, he kept a note nearby during meetings: " Keep your temper!