Women's suffrage would take many years to become a reality. Why did legislation giving women the right to vote take so long to pass--even though the plight of women became a major concern during the Industrial Revolution? Most British women did not want the right to vote because they were afraid of the responsibility it held.

The unspoken rules of British society still expected women not to participate in public life in a visible way.

This type of legislation would change the structure of government too much to be considered.

The only people who could write the legislation were men who did not want to women to have any power.​