A plaque in honour of West Ham’s first female mayor was unveiled to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz was joined by female cabinet members and councillors to reveal a plaque to commemorate Daisy Parsons who in 1936 became the first woman to take on the role in West Ham.
She was also at the forefront of the suffragette movement when she joined the East London Federation of Suffragettes
In 1953 she was given an MBE and she died in Stratford in 1957.
After unveiling the plaque at Stratford Town Hall, Ms Fiaz said: “Women like Daisy were leading figures in the suffragette movement, making their mark in challenging injustice, poverty and inequality.
“It is a testament to Newham that it has been historically the birthplace of important progressive social movements and has been in the leadership of struggles for the advancement of our society.
“We celebrate their legacy, and pledge to ensure people of all backgrounds and genders have equal life chances and the opportunity to achieve their potential.”
Another plaque, this time at East Ham Town Hall, is set to be unveiled in honour of one of the first female MPs, Susan Lawrence.
In 1923 she became the MP for East Ham North.
Prior to that she was a councillor and spent her time trying to improve the working conditions of women in the East End.
In 1921 she was even imprisoned in Holloway for five weeks for not following a central government order to raise local taxes.
Earlier in the day Ms Fiaz also hosted an event attended by more than 100 women which celebrated all the achievements made by the women in Newham.
She said: “All of you are inspirational women and it is important that we all recognise our power and that we can do anything.
“Over the coming year we will continue to create the spaces to come together, to have the conversations and get to know each other. United we are stronger.”
During the event several different women spoke about their personal experiences and about the work they do professionally and voluntarily across the borough.
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