Perhaps Liz Truss can be forgiven for thinking she was entering hostile political territory on attending. The First 100 Years project’s online ‘First 100 years timeline’, noting milestones in women’s progress, seems a little, ahem, patchy on its pioneering politicians.

Among the notable firsts recorded on the timeline are Margaret Bondfield becoming the first woman to serve in the Cabinet (1929), Mary Robinson becoming the first female president of Ireland (1990) and Nicola Sturgeon first minister of Scotland (2014).

Oddly, however, the timeline jumps straight from 1977 (Mella Caroll is the first woman to practise at the Inner Bar in Ireland) to 1980 (Caroll appointed Irish High Court judge). Obiter’s memory may be faulty, but didn’t a Conservative woman barrister achieve a notable UK political first in May 1979?

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