A 104-year-old woman from Walton is the cover star of this week’s The Big Issue magazine, marking 100 years of women’s suffrage.
Freda Hodgson was born in 1913, and has grown up as women’s rights have gradually expanded, and has now been given the opportunity to take readers through a century of change.
In the interview, she talks about her memory of the first Armistice Day, her mother getting the vote, and being presented as a debutante to King George V.
She also gives her thoughts on the present, saying: “As the world is moving on it is good that more women are in politics. Queens have always done better than kings in this country, so why not? I admired Margaret Thatcher. She was prime minister when I came back from Zimbabwe.
“And I like Theresa May. She can make a good speech and says all the things that are necessary. She is not frightened to speak up.”
And on women in business, she said: “This has changed a lot in my lifetime. And they are doing so well and proving themselves. It is only habit that men should be top dogs. And if you are doing the same job and doing it well, you should absolutely have equal pay. I am not a maniac about women’s equality, but I am for it.”
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