Southport was in Victorian Britain part of the huge constituency of South Lancashire where it was represented for a time by the great Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, who addressed huge meetings in the town.

Liberals were instrumental in gaining independent status for the growing town. Southport Liberal Association was started in 1868 - its first chairman being Thomas Weld Blundell. Southport Liberals dominated the early days of the town council being responsible for such buildings as the Atkinson Library and Art Gallery.

The Victorian Southport ladies of leisure, tired of strolling along the Promenade - were beginning to dip their toes in the political waters as well as the sea.

March 1885 saw the first women's meeting in Birkdale, followed in August by the founding of the Southport Women's Liberal Association. An early pioneer was Kate Riley, one of the first women to hold elected office in local government anywhere in England - and a thorn in the side of the constituency association with her militant advocacy of the 'Women's Cause'.