About Mari Takayanagi

Historian, Archivist, Author & Heritage Professional

Portrait © House of Commons
Background © Parliamentary Archives, FAR/5

Historian

My area of expertise is women’s history, Parliamentary history, political history and social history from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. I have a strong interest in women and work, legislation affecting women's lives and gender equality, and the women’s suffrage struggle, particularly in petitioning, lobbying and militant activity within the Palace of Westminster. I have a history PhD, and an exemplary record of publication and public speaking on my research.

Image © Sorbonne/Pascal Lévy

Archivist

I'm an archivist by profession. I worked in the Parliamentary Archives at Westminster for 25 years, helping look after 4 million documents dating back more than 500 years. I helped thousands of people with their historical and legal research through our enquiry and search room service. I'm passionate about the archive collections there, which I know as well as anyone. I convey my knowledge and enthusiasm through tours, talks, podcasts and media interviews.

Image © Parliamentary Archives

Author

Above all, I love sharing stories about women and Parliament! My book Necessary Women, co-authored with Elizabeth Hallam Smith, is all about the unsung pioneering heroines who worked in the House of Commons and House of Lords. There are stories of entrepreneurship, tragedy, perseverance, a secret suffragette, and even a murder!

Mari Takayanagi promoting Necessary Women

Heritage Professional

I've worked on many exhibitions and displays. The biggest was as co-curator for ‘Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament’, a major public exhibition in Westminster Hall marking 100 years of the first votes for women in 2018. It used immersive spaces to explore the experiences of women in the Palace of Westminster across two centuries. I'm very proud that it achieved 107,000 visits with superb emotive feedback – one comment form said, 'I cried to see what women did for me.'

Image © UK Parliament/Mark Duffy

What next?

I've been seeking opportunities to do historical research on interwar women, politics and Parliament. During autumn 2024 I was an Archives By-Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, and during January 2025 I researched US/UK comparisons at the Schlesinger Library, Harvard University. So I now have lots of new research to share!

I’m looking forward to 2028, the centenary of equal franchise, when women got the vote on the same terms as men.

Are you looking for historical expertise on women and Parliament? Do you need help researching in the Parliamentary Archives? Do you have heritage plans for celebrating 2028? Maybe I can help!

Get in touch