SCHOOLCHILDREN recreated a suffragette march to mark 100 years since women won THE right to vote.

Brighton College pupils chanted as they marched through their school grounds dressed as suffragettes to mark the anniversary.

Yesterday was the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act,

which began to include

women in the political system.

Assistant headmistress Rachel Hughes said: “We wanted to do something really dramatic to mark the day and the children really took ownership of it.

“Two of our sixth formers, Polly Howarth and Erin Mitchell, organised everything and arranged for the Year 9s to march into the school through the arch and make a spectacle so that every child was aware of this special day.

“We have talked about the significance of February 6 quite a bit in assemblies so the children were all very keen to get involved.”

Polly, 17, who co-ordinated the event, added: “I’m really interested in the issue of equal rights both around the school and generally so this date was a very important one for me and I felt strongly that we should mark it at Brighton College.

“Our school is very pro-active in promoting rights for all and all my friends and I were excited to mark the centenary.”

It came as Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she will consider a pardon for suffragettes who were convicted for protesting for the right

to vote.

Campaigners called on the Government to overturn their convictions on the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

“I will take a look at it,” Ms Rudd said, when asked about the measure on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

There were more than 1,300 suffragette arrests.

Many went on to be jailed, including leader Emmeline Pankhurst.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that 100 years on, gender inequality remained.

She added that it was the duty of the current generation to win the battle for equality as she paid tribute to the sacrifices of the suffragettes and suffragists who won the right for women to vote.

She said: “The uncomfortable truth is that gender equality is still an unwon cause.

“An unwon cause that it is the duty of our generation to win.”