A FOREST woman who was born the year before some women got the vote was among the guests at a special tea to celebrate a landmark General Election.

An ‘equali-tea’ party was organised by women from across the political divide to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1918 General Election – the first in which women were able to vote.

Among the inspiring women from across Gloucestershire who attended the event at Shire Hall in Gloucester was 101-year-old Joyce Morse of Longhope.

She would have been eligible to vote from 1938 but she told guests that, because of the Second World War, she was not able to cast her vote in a General Election until 1945 when she was 28.

The ‘equali-tea’ was organised by Labour county councillor Lesley Williams, Conservative Kathy Williams and Liberal Democrat Suzanne Williams, along with chairman of the council Cllr Andrew Gravells.