British Parliamentary Reform

When was Habeas corpus suspended and what is it?

1794, the right to a fair trial

Peterloo Massacre

1819, 60,000 people were there to listen to Henry Hunt, it was a peaceful crowd until the militia arrested Hunt, 11 were killed and 400 injured

When was the Representation of the People’s Act / First Reform Act / Great Reform Act passed?

1832

Newport Rising

November 1839, inspired by the arrest of Henry Vincent, it was led by John Frost and there were 10,000 people, we do not know who fired first but 22 men were killed and over 50 injured, this rising made the government worried so they did not execute the imprisoned leaders but transported them

Liberal Party

Formed in 1859 and derived from the Whigs and other liberal groups, they set up working men’s clubs in urban areas during the Victorian period, by the 1920s, the wartime split within the Liberals between Asquithian Liberals and Lloyd George’s coalition had damaged party unity

When was the Second Reform Act passed?

1867

Secret Ballot Act

1872 under Gladstone’s government

When was the Third Reform Act passed?

1884

Redistribution of Seats Act

1885, 142 seats were redistributed with London going from 22 to 55 MPs and Cornwall went from 22 to 55 MPs

Labour Party

Formed in 1893, in 1906 it gained 29 seats, then 42 seats in 1910, in 1915 it had 3 MPs in office under Asquith’s coalition government in 1923 it had 191 seats which led to Ramsay MacDonald becoming PM in 1924 under and Labour and Liberal joint government

When was the Woman’s Social and Political Union Formed?

1903

When was the Parliament Act passed?

1911

When was the Glasgow Rent Strike?

1915

When was the Fourth Reform Act passed?

1918

When were the Black Friday riots in Glasgow?

1919

When was the General Strike?

1926

When was the Trades Disputes Act passed?

1927

When was the Contagious Disease Act passed?

1864

When was the Contagious Diseases Act repealed?

1886

When was the Equal Franchise Act passed?

1928

What percentage of the population could vote in 1780 and what were the qualifications?

5%, men over the age of 21 who either owned a large amount of property or met a complex requirement of living in a borough

When did the French Revolution outbreak?

1789

Siditious Meetings Act

1795, meant that no more than 50 people could gather at one time unless it was approved in advance

Lord Liverpool’s government

1812-27, he was highly successful as he held together a government of reformers and conservatives

Wellington’s government

1828-30

When does Earl Grey become Prime Minister?

1830

When does Palmerston die?

1865

When and what were the Hyde Park riots?

1866, they were a response to the dismissal of the second reform bill, 200,000 people causing police to call for support from the life guards

When does Derby become Prime Minister?

1866

Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act

1883, it set a maximum amount of money that could be spent on an election, outlawed parties booking up available transport, it led to fines / imprisonment and removal of seat if the candidate broke the law

When does Gladstone become Prime Minister for the second time?

1880

When was Disraeli Prime Minister?

1868 and then 1874-80

What was the average number of voters per borough before the first reform act?

Fewer than 100

What were the qualifications to vote in a potwalloper borough?

Men who possessed a hearth where they could boil pots

Rotten boroughs

They kept a disproportionate amount of power within parliament due to their previous height of economic activity when had now ended, for example Old Sarum still had the vote but had been eroded into the sea

How many voters were there in 1780?

214,000 / 8,000,000

Society for Constitutional Information

1780, Major Cartwright, it promoted parliamentary reform by educating citizens, it faded under the government crackdown in the 1890s

London Corresponding Society

Founded in 1792, in 1794 its leaders were put on trial

When and what was the Friends of the People?

1792, founded by Whig politicians and it aimed to control the pace of reform by promoting modest changed to the electoral system

When and what was the Corresponding Societies Act?

1799, it outlawed the London Corresponding Society and its provincial groups

Corn Law

1815, aimed to protect the economic interests of the landed class through the imposition of a duty to buy imported corn which would make the price of bread rise

Spa Fields

1816 in London, it was a reform meeting which turned into a riot and had to be supressed with military support by the authorities

Earl Grey

1830-34

Why was the 1832 Reform Act introduced?

French Revolution, William Corbett’s ‘Weekly Political Register’ allowed for working people to become involved in politics, political meetings such as Spa Fields and Peterloo, Tory party unity was fragmented and the 1828-30 harvests were poor which led to the Swing Riots of 1830

Birmingham Political Union

1830, Thomas Atwood which intended to bring together the middle class and skilled workers into one group fighting for parliamentary reform

How was the 1832 Reform Act passed?

The bill was rejected once by the House of Commons and then twice by the House of Lords, this led to Grey asking William IV if there could be more pro-reform peers in the House of Lords which he refused, this led to the Days of May which were national protests, this encouraged William IV to agree to the extra peers

What did the 1832 Reform Act do (positives)?

Enfranchised male householders with a house worth £10 a year, this was standard throughout the country, this caused the electorate to increase by 55% from 240,000 voters to 370,000

What did the 1832 Reform Act do (negatives)?

Electors had to have lived in their house for a year and had to pay poor rates, this new property qualification meant that there were far more voters in the south than the north with some boroughs seeing a reduction in voting

When and what was the Reform Union introduced?

1864, it promoted a moderate extension of the franchise and the introduction of a secret ballot, introduced by Liberals

Reform League

1865, much larger than the Reform Union but they worked together, it wanted universal manhood suffrage, it had a strong following from trade unionists and the skilled working class

Why did the Tories want the Second Reform Act?

The Tories had lost most of their power since 1832 so as they knew that the people wanted reform they used it to gain support

Why was the second reform act passed?

Since 1860, there had been a dramatic rise in the circulation of popular press, Reform Union and Reform League organised mass demonstrations, economic distress - particularly because of a cotton famine in the north, conservative party wanted reform

What were the threats to the passing of the Second Reform Act?

Conservative Liberals (adullamites), offered strong resistance in parliament to any reform measure, not all Conservatives supported reform, Cranborne didn’t and the landed gentry feared a dilution of their power

Who introduced the Second Reform Act?

Disraeli

Conservatives

In the late 1830s, Peel improved its organisation by putting Bonham in charge who encouraged growth of Conservative associations in constituencies, in 1867 the National Union of Conservative Constituency Associations was set up by Gorst to organise local associations under one national, central associations, after Disraeli’s death in 1881 the Primrose League was set up to allow men and women to promote conservative ideas, by the 1920s it attracted both middle and lower class voters

What was the impact of the Second Reform Act?

It extended the vote in boroughs to householders and lodgers who had been resident for at least 12 months this increased the electorate to 813,000 which was 9% of all adults

What did the 1884 Reform Act do?

Property qualifications were standardised between boroughs and counties so that all had the £10 qualification, this added 2.5 million voters meaning 67% of the adult male population could vote

What did the 1918 Reform Act do?

This gave the vote to all adult men aged over 21, with 6 month resident qualification and women over 30 could now vote meaning 95% of adult males could vote and 8 million women could vote, 75% of the electorate had never voted before, it also allowed women to stand for election in parliament

What did the 1928 Reform Act do?

It removed the difference between male and female voters meaning 14.5 million women could vote and 12 million men could vote

When and how were property qualifications for MPs abolished?

In 1857, Glover was elected to parliament without the correct property qualifications so he was barred from the House of Commons and imprisoned for 3 moths, this demonstrated the absurdity of a law from 1711 so it was abolished in 1858

Why and how did the payment of MPs happen?

1911, this was introduced as the Liberals needed support of minority parties to get their measures through parliament so they supported the payment of MPs in order to repair some of the damage caused by the Osborne judgement, the pay was £400 a year

Osborne Judgement

Since the 1870s, trade unions had been subsidising the pay of MPs but in the 1909 Osborne judgement this was outlawed

Major General Charles Napier

He commanded 4,000 troops which were sent to deal with Chartists in the north but he sympathised with them as he refused to release troops against striking workers

Why did Chartism fail?

Disunity (Lancashire cotton workers wanted economic improvement and factory reform while London artisans wanted political equality), fluctuating support (they had no parliamentary allies, working class became more independent due to trade unions), power of the state (60 police in Birmingham in July 1839, technological advancements such as trains and electric telegraph, learnt from Peterloo where the leaders became martyrs), economic improvement (Poor Law, taxes on food was reduced and the 1847 Ten Hours Act)

Why did Chartism emerge?

Anti Poor Law campaigns 1837-38, 1835 Municipal Corporations Act which extended the vote to all ratepayers and established the modern police force, discontent towards the 1832 Reform Act and the 1833 Factory Act as it only limited the hours for children

Feargus O’Connor

He ran the ‘Northern Star’ which circulated 50,000 copies in 1839, he believed in ‘physical force’ and was focused on the Chartist Land Plan which would remove workers from towns and resettle them in rural areas, by 1845 only 250 families had been resettled and by 1851 only 46 remained

William Lovett

He supported ‘moral force’, he did not like O’Connor’s use of unskilled workers and fiery language, he formed the National Association Promoting the Political and Social Improvement of the People in 1840

Thomas Paine

He wrote ‘The Rights of Man’ in 1791, part II sold 200,000 within a year, he believed that the aristocracy existed in ‘idle luxury’

Cartwright

He travelled to the north to see how they had been effected by economic hardship, he helped to create links between reformers and was the ‘father’ of newspaper agitators

Cobbett

He ran the ‘Weekly Political Register’ which wad read by thousands, he attacked ‘placemen’ who were paid for their ‘places’ in parliament and he also travelled to see the hardships of the working people

Hunt

He became a hero of the working people and he wanted universal suffrage, he was an orator who spoke at Spa Fields 1816

Why did people want the 1884 Franchise Act?

Seats were unfairly distributed, rural householders wanted the vote on the same terms, increase in education since 1870 and there was a new generation of MPs

When was the Education Act?

1870

How was the 1884 Franchise Act passed?

Gladstone proposed the bill in 1884 but it was rejected by the House of Lords, the ‘Arlington Street compact’ gave the Liberals the franchise extension and the Conservatives the redistribution of seats

Pitt

Prime Minister in 1783 where he proposed a reform bill (in 1782 he supported a bill to reduce bribery among ministers), which would redistribute seats however he did not threaten to resign if the bill was not passed, this was defeated in the House of Commons and he never tried parliamentary reform again

Yorkshire Association

Set up in 1780 and set petitions to parliament wanting to make MPs answerable to corruption

Spa Fields

1816, a reform meeting which turned violent

March of the Blanketeers

1817, handloom weavers tried to march from Manchester to London with a petition but they were broken up by troops which led to several arrests

Cato Street Conspiracy

1820, a small group plotted to assassinate the Cabinet, seize the Bank of England and set up a revolutionary government but the 5 main leaders were executed

Hampden Clubs

They wanted universal suffrage, secret ballots and annual parliaments, 40 were set up by 1817

Pentridge Uprising

1817, 300 unemployed framework knitters marched on Nottingham Castle, their leader, Brandreth, was later executed

Peterloo Massacre

1819, 60,000 at a reform meeting, the militia arrested Hunt which led to a violent crowd where 11 were killed and 400 injured

Why was the 1918 Representation of the Peoples Act introduced?

Most of the soldiers fighting in WWI would not be able to vote which seemed unfair so in 1916 there was a Speaker’s Conference to address the issues

Why was the 1928 Representation of the Peoples Act introduced?

The increase in the electorate did not change voting patterns much, just 1 in 15 employed women could vote, it passed by the House of Commons 387 to 10 votes

Examples of towns which had populations over 80,000 but no parliamentary representation before 1832

Salford, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester

What did the 1832 Reform Act do in terms of redistribution of seats?

56 boroughs with a population below 2,000 lost both of their parliamentary seats

Representation injustice before 1867

334 borough MPs represented a total of 9.5 million while 11.5 million were represented by just 162 member

What did the 1867 Reform Act do in terms of the redistribution of seats?

25 seats for the counties led to a strengthening of landed interest and an increase in popularity for the conservatives

What led to the introduction of the 1883 Illegal & Corrupt Practices Act?

186584 64 English boroughs ‘possessed a corrupt element’ while 21 were ‘extremely corrupt’

Burke

In 1780, he presented a reform to the House of Commons that reflected the demands of the Yorkshire Association, he attacked the high expenditure that went on maintaining the royal court as he aimed to reduce taxes, this was not passed through the House of Commons but the MP Dunning got part of the bill passed

William VI

He dismissed PM, Lord Melbourne (Whig) in 1834 and invited Peel to become PM, an election in 1835 showed favour to Melbourne so he was reinstated

George V

He wanted to reject the 1914 bill to grant Home Rule for Ireland but he didn’t use his royal veto due to WWI

Power of the crown post 1832

The crown’s power increased in some counties as more seats meant more control over elections, 60 sears were under direct aristocratic rule

MP stats in 1840s

In 1841, 1/5 MPs were middle class and 70% were related to peers or country gentry

What did the 1884 Reform Act do in terms of power of the crown?

It introduced single-member constituencies which massively reduced aristocratic power

MP stats in 1900s

In 1906, 10% of MPs came from aristocratic families

How much did the House of Lords grow by from 1780-1910?

350 to 623

Election of 1906

Conservatives shrunk to smallest ever with just 156 MPs while the Liberals had 397 seats

Lloyd George’s budget

1909, he wanted to tax on land and incomes above £8,000 a year which was viewed as an attack against the aristocracy, it was rejected by 350 votes to 75

George V

He was forced to agree to the creation of sufficient Liberal peers in order for Asquith’s bill on taxation to be passed , through this the House of Lords passed the bill