Parliamentary reform 1851-1885

what does parliamentary reform include

the assessment of changes to franchise and to representation

first reform act

reform act 1832- middle classes gained the vote but workers and women remained excluded

plus in 1851 the rural areas were overrepresented by MPs and this benefitted the Tories (rural areas were more subject to pressures from landlords)

second reform act

1867- extended the vote to all male urban householders who had lived there for 2 years , most workers but only partially reformed the overrepresentation of rural Tory areas

third reform act

only extended it to rural householders and involved a separate act- redistribution of seats act 1885

redistribution of seats act

1885- ended overrepresentation of rural areas. women still couldn’t vote, plural voting remained (people had more than one vote as they owned properties) and MPs were unpaid

what was good about the second reform act

created in a promising context- parliament had unsuccessfully tried to reform the system 4 times in the 1850s

there was a greater interest in democracy as seen by the w/c reform league which demanded universal male suffrage

liberals known as the party of reform

Party conflicts

Gladstone argued the self-help and responsibility of skilled workers allowed them to enter the 'pale [boundary] of the constitution' but Palmerston, the leader, was opposed to more parliamentary reform.

Disraeli, frustrated by short-lived minority Conservative government, was keen to replace a Liberal government with a Conservative one. Once Palmerston died, the pathway for Liberal reform was opened.

Gladstone and Russell’s bill

Gladstone and Russell subsequently only provided a modest increase to the franchise (£7 householders) with their bill of 1866. This failed due the opposition to it: Conservative MPs combined with anti-reform Liberal MPs led by Lowe

Disraeli’s response

Counter-intuitively, they introduced a reform bill but it was too modest to attract pro-reform Liberal support so it was withdrawn.

The hyde park riots

The Hyde Park riots broke out for a day following a demonstration by the Reform League angry that reform seemed to have ended.

1867 Disraeli

In 1867 Disraeli introduced the reform bill which went further than Gladstone: the vote was extend to all urban householders. The number of new voters was extended further by parliamentary amendments (Hodgkinson's added 500, 000 by abolishing compounding). Disraeli agreed to all the amendments, apart from those from Gladstone, because rejection would mean the resignation of his government and he wanted a reform associated with Toryism not Gladstone - he 'dished the Whigs [Liberals]'.

electorate up by 82% (1.2 m new voters)

how had this reform act changed things

The electorate was now mostly W/C and the parties now had to change - national party organisation followed. The parties now had to gain the votes of workers. But Disraeli had managed to preserve the rural over-representation that benefited his party. The vote remained open until a private members bill created the Secret ballot Act 1872 (opposed in principle by Gladstone and only accepted by him to avert division in the parliamentary Liberal party).

impact of secret ballot act

This, in turn, led to both parties accepting the need for regulation of elections as the secret ballot completely undermined the effectiveness of corruption or bribery in elections (Corrupt and Illegal practices Act

1881).

what did gladstone propose in 1884 and what were the impacts

In 1884 Gladstone proposed closing the illogical distinction between urban householders, who had the vote, and rural ones, who did not. Salisbury, the Conservative leader, knew this would mean the loss of Conservative MPs (rural householders would vote Liberal) so the Lords blocked the 3' reform bill until a further redistribution of seats bill was agreed.

what did the act create

This created smaller constituencies, resolved the urban-rural distribution of seats and created seats in M/C suburbs (Villa Toryism) to compensate the Tories for the loss of rural MPs. It also created WIC constituencies but this would only benefit Labour in the 20" C.

Feb 1867 Disraeli

introduced 10 minute bill which reflects anti suffrage attitudes of group in the cabinet

it is defeated in the commons

strength of reform by 1867

830,000 new urban voters 290,000 new rural voters

1/3 adult males had the vote

electorate increased by 1.2 m to 2.5 m

weaknesses of reform

agriculture workers excluded from enfranchisement; only 40% increase in rural franchise

only 45 seats redistributed

corruption as there was an absence of a secret ballot

women don’t have vote