Ruth Ellis: what her posthumous pardon tells us about Britain’s view of abuse then, and now

By Lizzie Seal, Professor of Criminology, University of Sussex

Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in Britain on July 13 1955. Her execution was a national event. A crowd, reported to be 1,000-strong, gathered outside Holloway Prison in London that morning. Anti-death penalty protesters held signs, some people prayed and some wept. Ellis’s story had deeply moved the public.

Over 70 years later, the deputy prime minister, David Lammy, has announced that Ellis has been granted a conditional pardon due to the “exceptional…

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