The 97th anniversary of women 'getting the vote' took place last Friday.

I didn't see much about it on the telly or in the papers but 97 years ago there must have been a few wee sherries downed in celebration.

Hundreds of women had embarked on emancipation and fought a very hard struggle. They were the Suffragettes led by Emmeline Pankhurst.

They dared to demand a say in how the country should be run by having the audacity to ask for a vote. Scores of these pioneers of women's rights ended up in Holloway Prison. They were saluted as brave martyrs or condemned as irresponsible anarchists.

One of them, Emily Davidson, died when she was trapped under King George V's horse. It has long been suggested that she was in fact a martyr and an anarchist in her bid to pull down the King's horse at the Epsom Derby that day in 1913.

But a recent study now reveals that the 40-year-old campaigner was actually reaching up to attach a Suffragette scarf to the horses' bridle. She was found to have a return train ticket from Epsom and had holiday plans arranged.

The poor old jockey never got over it and was quoted many years later as being "haunted by that poor woman's face". He committed suicide in 1951 in a gas-filled kitchen.

In 1918, the Representation of the Peoples Act changed the law and granted women the right to vote but originally only women over the age of 30 years were deemed capable of putting an X in the box.

It is shameful that nowadays 40 per cent of women don't exercise that hard fought right to vote.

After all that sacrifice and struggle so many women just don't bother their backsides.

During the Referendum many were energised and cast their vote for the first time in years.

For this coming General Election I hope those newly politicised women continue to use the ability to help change our country's political landscape and in doing so honour those brave Suffragettes who would have given an arm and a leg, and some their life and liberty, to be able to vote.

They, of course, aren't the only ones who would like the chance to choose a government in May.

Those young people who were eligible to vote in the Referendum and who were ecstatic about doing so, now find themselves excluded from this election.

How confusing and insulting it must be to them. On the one hand they are viewed as having a voice but it seems that for a UK election they are worthless. Perhaps they are not polled to be voting for the right party? Never mind next year at the Scottish elections they will have their say once more, this time for a Scottish Parliament.

Scotswoman of the Year Awards

On Thursday, I will have the pleasure of attending the Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year annual awards ceremony.

I have been a guest many times at this wonderful grand event and look forward to it every year.

Awards ceremonies often change their venues but I love how the Evening Times have continued to hold this great tribute in a venue befitting the usual unsung grandeur of the nominees. Glasgow City Chambers never disappoints.

No matter how many times I've been in it I'm always taken aback. Many years ago, when Tommy was a Glasgow City councillor, he and three other councillors occupied the City Chambers for a week.

I remember he sneaked me in and we strolled around the corridors until the ghost stories we'd been told about started to kick in.

There will be no ghosts on Thursday night just a banquet hall full of laughter and wonderful Scottish women.