Firstly in 1910 , a Conciliation Committee was set up.
This Committee consisted of 25 Liberal MP's , 12 Conservative MP's and 6 Labour MP's and 6 Irish Nationalists.
It's aim was to gain support for women's suffrage bills to be introduced into Parliament.
First Conciliation Bill
This bill was introduced by a Labour MP called David Shackleton in June 1910. It passed both first reading and second reading with a large majority.
HOWEVER , Parliament was dissolved in Nov 1910 so women's suffrage was not granted.
Strike 2 -
The Second Conciliation Bill was introduced in 1911.
It again passed both first and second readings.
HOWEVER, this time the Chancellor Exchequer David Lloyd George ( Conservative) refused to spend any more time on the bill in this session so once again, the issue had been avoided.
He did however promise that further time would be allowed to be spent on it during next session, if it passed second reading.
Strike 3-
The Third Conciliation Bill was passed in 1912.
Asquith decided to instead introduce a manhood suffrage bill which would include women's suffrage...
In the words of Christabel Pankhurst - The Conciliation Bill had been 'Torpedoed' .
When the manhood suffrage bill passed the House of Commons - the Speaker of the House of Commons spoke up against it and refused to admit a bill which included 'women's suffrage' as this would change the nature of the Bill.
So it seems that both David Lloyd George and Asquith, had avoided the issue and thus defeated the idea of a ' Conciliation Committee' and the inclusion of women's suffrage.
