electoral reform

the representation of the peoples act 1918

• this act brought britain close to full democracy

• it established the principle of ‘one amn one vote’

• it enfranchised all men over the age of 21 and gave women the right to vote

• the extension of war allowed men to vote since they were putting their lives in danger for the country

• it seemed like an obvious and necessary step that women be included in the vote

• although there was a fear by mps of which party theyd vote for

women and the vote

• there was a lingering fear that women would return back to their pre war violent campaigns

• the opening of including women in the vote however did not extend to them all

• it was limited to women over the age of 30 who were ratepayers or married to a rate payer

• this therefore excluded many young women who engaged in the war effort

• the gov was fearful that the women voters would outnumber the men

• there was an estimated addition of two million men and six million women to the electoral register, few of which had any known party affiliation

redistribution of seats

• there was redistribution of seats to reflect population changes and to achieve more uniform constituencies

• this created further uncertainty as to which political party would benefit from the changes

other measures included in the 1918 act

• there was reduced opportunities for corruption as a one day election was set up rather than having it spread across several

• the returning officers expenses was to be paid by the public purse and not to be paid by the candidate

• this was to advantage the labour party , which struggled with funding as it made the elections cheaper

• the introduction of £150 to each candidate was to erase time wasters from the election

• however this also erased independent candidates who lacked independent means and thus limited the choice of the electorate

plural voting

• this occurred when voters had several properties ,

• this was limited to the voters only being allowed to vote in a maximum of two constituencies

• there was an intense discussion of the introduction of alternative voting or proportional representation and provisions were made for experimental trials

• however, neither system was implemented , although the subject reappeared on the agenda in 1919 in the electoral reform bill and the first past the post system still prevails in westminster today

impact of electoral reform

• women now made up about 42% of the voters

• just over half of the electorate voted in the 1918 election , but only one in four of those in the armed forces participated

• the conservatives misjudged the electorates opinion of them and the election was a huge success for them

• the liberal party, still badly split, suffered a loss of support

• however, the increase in the labour vote was of great significance for the future prospects of the party - the number of voters increased from 400,000 to almost 2.4 million

equal franchise act 1928

• this was passed by Baldwins conservative government

• and women finally received voting rights on the same terms as men

• this increased the electorate by 5 million

• women voters outnumbered the men by two million and this was known as the flapper vote

• in 1929,however, they only made up 2.3 % of the commons

• established universal adult suffrage for all those over 2 except peers, lunatics and criminals

• it remained in place until 1969 when the voting age was lowered to 18