Suffragettes who were jailed while fighting to win the vote for women could be pardoned for their crimes, Amber Rudd has said following calls from campaigners on the 100th anniversary of their victory.

More than 1,000 women were arrested and many were imprisoned during the battle for equality and the Fawcett Society, as well as relatives of the suffragettes and senior Tory MPs, called on the Home Secretary to grant a pardon.

Ms Rudd responded and said she is “certainly going to look at the individual cases” and consider issuing pardons.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme: “Instinctively I can see where that campaign is coming from so I will take a look and see if there is a proposal that I can take more seriously.

“But in terms of pardoning for arson, for violence like that… that is a little trickier.”

Ms Rudd’s comments mark a major victory for campaigners who said the women's sacrifices should not have made them criminals.