On general release from today, the film Suffragette puts fictional character Maud Watts at the very heart of the Votes for Women campaign. The film focuses on the increasingly violent tactics employed by the suffragettes and the level of danger the women were prepared to risk in the battle for enfranchisement. Confusing pre release publicity announced that Helena Bonham Carter would be playing Swindon suffragette Edith New, however, with the film set in 1912, it soon became obvious that the Helena Bonham Carter character was based on a different source, as our Edith had already returned to teaching by that date. Carey Mulligan gave a compelling performance as young mother Maud Watts whose early involvement with the Votes for Women campaign begins because of the plight of fellow laundry worker Violet Miller, played by Anne Marie Duff. The stories of Maud and Violet throw emphasis on the working class members of the Votes for Women campaign in contrast to the more familiar upper ...