Suffrage
Lady Balfour was one of the highest-ranking members of the aristocracy to have a leadership role in the British women's suffrage campaign. She began her work for women's suffrage in 1889, when she became the constitutionalists' main liaison with Parliament. She was present in Parliament when a private members suffrage bill passed a second reading by 230 votes to 159 votes, a majority of 71, although the bill did not advance as the government would not grant parliamentary time.
In 1897, Lady Balfour became a member of the executive committee of the newly formed National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), whose President was Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Lady Balfour served the NUWSS executive committee from its inception until some women got the vote in 1918. Lady Balfour and Fawcett also founded a women’s Liberal Unionist organisation.
In 1899, Lady Balfour addressed the Political Section of the Second International Congress of Women on the topic of "Women's Status in Local Government." She led the suffragist Mud March demonstration on 9 February 1907, alongside Fawcett.
Lady Balfour was also the President of the London Society of Women's Suffrage, the largest single suffrage group in Britain, from 1896 to 1919. In addition, she served as President of the Lyceum Club, which rendered services to professional women, from 1903 to 1915. When her work for votes for women was almost over, Frances joined the National Council of Women in 1917, and served as president from 1921 to 1923. In 1910, Lady Balfour was a member of the "Royal Commission upon the Law of Divorce and its Administration."Lady Balfour wrote political commentary in the monthly magazine National Review under the pseudonym "Grille." She was joint editor of Women and Progress with Nora Vynne. The magazine was dedicated to achieving equal rights for men and women. They were happy to see younger women excluded from having the vote, as long as it applied equally to young men as well. The magazine appeared to be about to be a success when shortage of funds obliged it to fold in June 1914. Today the magazine serves as a source of early suffrage history.
Lady Balfour published six books, writing biographies, including of her friend Dr. Elsie Inglis. She completed her two-volume autobiography Ne Obliviscaris (Dinna Forget) in 1930.
