Helen Taylor made history in the 1885 general election as Britain’s first woman prospective parliamentary candidate, standing in Camberwell North as an Independent Radical Democrat. Her platform advocated for radical reforms, including land reform, free education, a six-hour workday, and Irish Home Rule, but her candidacy was a direct challenge to laws barring women from voting and sitting in Parliament.

Although no explicit statute prohibited women from standing, the returning officer refused her nomination papers and deposit, effectively excluding her from the ballot. Her campaign forced public debate on women’s eligibility and highlighted the systemic barriers they faced, barriers that would remain for decades until women gained the right to vote and stand for Parliament.