Winners of Portsmouth MP suffragette sash competitio

Portsmouth South Labour MP Stephen Morgan held the contest for school pupils to take part in for the anniversary.

The final four were invited to his constituency office to meet the MP and explain their designs before Mr Morgan picked a winner from each age group.

The contest was launched as part of the MP’s Vote100 Portsmouth campaign, a series of events and schemes encouraging female engagement in public life.

Winners Eva Rose Pinnock, from Craneswater Junior School and Annalee MacFarlane from Portsmouth High School, had their sash designs printed by Southsea business Seadog Print Studio and will have them displayed in the Houses of Parliament over the coming months.

Sashes from runners-up Lilly Bullman, from Harbour School, and Nellie Fraser, from Fernhurst Junior School, are on display in the window of Mr Morgan’s office in Albert Road.

He said: ‘This is a historic year for our country. We need to celebrate the progress women have made in our politics, but also harness this moment to advance the change we still desperately need to see.

‘The sash competition combined these aims perfectly and I was so pleased with the response we got from schools.’