Suffragettes to hit the big screen in Leeds City Centre as part of historic celebration

The Suffragettes were some of historys most famous leading ladies, fearlessly leading the charge for women to have the right to vote (Photo: Leeds City Council)

Now the Suffragettes will hit the big screen in Leeds this week, as the city marks 100 years since women gained the right the vote.

Millennium Square will be hosting a free screening of the award-winning film Suffragette this Thursday (August 9), as part of a programme of events celebrating the first women in the UK getting the vote in 1918.

Visitors are being encouraged to get into the spirit by wearing Suffragette fancy dress and purple and green clothes- the colours of the Suffrage movement.

The screening of Suffragette is rated as 12a and doors open at 6pm, with the film starting at 7pm (Photo: Leeds City Council)

This film stars Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, and Helena Bonham Carter and takes place in 1912, following a young working mother who becomes inspired to take up the cause.

The screening of Suffragette is free to attend, but entry is on a first come, first served basis. Visitors are able to bring their own picnics and blankets.

The film screening is rated as 12a and doors open at 6pm, with the film starting at 7pm.

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The Leeds Suffragettes

Leeds was home to two women who became prominent activists in the Suffrage movement.

The renowned Leonora Cohen was jailed in 1911 after she threw a rock at the window of a government building, before becoming imprisoned again in 1913 after hurling an iron bar through a showcase at the Tower of London.

Leonora was appointed OBE in later life and lived to the age of 105. She remained a force for women’s rights right up until her death in 1978.

Mary Gawthorpe left teaching in 1906 and became a paid organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union in Leeds.

She was a regular speaker at huge national events, including a 1908 rally in London’s Hyde Park in front of more than 200,000 people.

Mary was also arrested and imprisoned a number of times for her activism, suffering harsh treatment both in and out of custody.

Leeds City Museum currently hosts a display dedicated to Leonora Cohen, including the iron bar she threw in the Tower of London.

The Leeds suffragettes who valiantly fought for women’s right to vote

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Leeds has a long and historic connection to the Suffrage movement, with some of the campaign’s most prominent and passionate figures coming from our city.

“These women were willing to put their freedom and their lives on the line in the pursuit of equality and it’s thanks to their determination and unshakable belief that we enjoy some of the freedoms we have today.

“It is also testament to the impact the Suffragettes had on our way of life that their story is still being reinvented and retold today and we are proud to be playing our part in that by celebrating this historic milestone with a free event at the heart of Leeds.”

For more details about the screening, visit: millsqleeds.com/whats-on/