Today marks 100 years since the 1918 Representation of the People Act passed into law, giving women in Great Britain and Ireland the right to vote for the first time.

A milestone in the history of democracy, the law also extended suffrage to all men over the age of 21; yet it would be another ten years before women under the age of 30 and without property would be granted equal voting rights.

Among the many women now leading the world, I've had the privilege of witnessing and drawing (clockwise from top left):

Baroness Brenda Hale, President of the UK Supreme Court; Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland; Andrea, a campaigner for healthcare reform and disability rights in Washington DC; Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Minority Leader and former Speaker of the US House of Representatives; Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden; and Mar Garcia, Secretary General of the European Green Party.

These drawings will feature alongside over 150 illustrations of democracy in action in the 'Drawing Democracy' book, out later this month.