Topic 1: British Political System

• Constitution = balance between monarchy, HofL and HofC. Britain was a parliamentary monarchy

• Power of the King

• Chose Prime Minister

• Chose leading minister who consulted with him personally. Could also sack them

• Appointed peers to the HofL

• Appointed lesser offices e.g. royal household, gov departments, Church, armed services. (PATRONAGE)

• Had to be consulted on legislation. Had veto power (never used)

• Limitations of Power of the King

• Ministers had to be chosen from within parliament

• Ministers had to have parliamentary support

King George III

• King @ 22 in 1760

• Wanted to restore the power of the monarchy 

• Wanted to make his friend and advisor Lord Bute to high office

• Appoint ministers he approved of

• Find a PM who would pursue his agenda

Cabinet

• Ministers appointed to the cabinet individually, not by being members of the successful gov party. 

• Each member personally responsible to the king

• Most sat in the HofL

• Began to be the idea of a leading minister - the Prime Minister. The 1st was Robert Walpole. 

Parliament

• HofC = popular opinion, HofL = aristocracy.

• But, both were dominated by the aristocracy

• 20% of MPs were sons of peers

• A reforming organisation claimed that 150 MPs were elected through the direct influence of a peer in 1793. 

• Not all MPs from landed aristocracy, 30 from Law, 80 from Army/Navy, some businessmen.

• HofC became more powerful - economics, they controlled the Treasury.

• HofC did not see itself as representing the people.

• Independent backbencher fears

• Power of the Executive- threat to the autonomy of the country gentry by the excessive power of the Crown

• The ‘Faction’- MPs working together for an interest/taking up a position of Opposition. 

• Ideally should operate on the basis of national interest in unity

Achieving a Government Majority 

• Used patronage - rewards, honours, jobs and pension

• 3 main groups to work with:

• Placemen: MPs who held office under the crown. In it for money and prestige. Would support any government (120 ppl)

• Professional Politicians: ambitious MPs, wanted high gov offices. (30-40 ppl)

• Independent backbenchers: sought favours for their families and locations. (200 ppl, generally County seats). Not seeking gov office. Generally, they supported the government. Govs won the support of independent MPs by argument.

The Opposition

• Opposition supported by:

• Differing policy opinions, conduct of gov, perspectives of Constitution, recent history

• Gaining power and patronage

• Opposition had its own patronage e.g. wealthy aristocrats had money and influence

• Opposition not well organised

• Did not seek to overthrow gov, but still challenged them

• Political conflict over (usually constitutionally based):

• Scale of patronage

• Major events like war w/ America

• Extent of royal power

Process of Government:

Local government

• Governed by landed elite

• Central gov did not deal with public safety, education, roads, poor relief. - All dealt by local authorities but this was not a uniform process across the country

• Lord Lieutenants (Counties): From aristocracy. Headed local militia. Made appointments to junior county positions (patronage). Needed their support to rise in country society. 

• Magistrates: heard petty and serious cases. Granted alehouse licenses. Supervise working of the Poor Law. Fixed wage levels. (Appointed by Lord Lieutenant - had to have land worth £100 a year)

Central government

• Local and private legislation e.g. presenting bills for the enclosure of land in an MPs county

• Maintained law and order

• Foreign policy 

• Commons job was to scrutinise the gov in these areas and grant money to pay for them

Electoral System:

• Boroughs

• 432 MPs

• Earliest boroughs chosen in the middle ages. 

• Many boroughs had declined with some only having a few electors but still elected 2 MPs (rotten boroughs).

• Generally needed an income of £300 a year

• Counties

• 122 MPs

• Property qualification: annual income of £600 from land

The Franchise:

• Voting used be public - could sell votes for money or patronage - George III set aside £12,000 for bribes to secure candidates won 

• Less than 500,000 adult males could vote (1 in 8 of the population)

County franchise

• More uniform than boroughs

• 1430 and 1432 Acts: male owners of freehold land worth at least 40 shillings per annum could vote. 

• Vast majority could not vote

• English County electorate in 1831 - 200,000

• Sizes of countries varied. E.g. Rutland and Anglesey had <1000 whilst Yorkshire had > 20,000

• Ppl who owned property in multiple constituencies could vote multiple times, no need to live in a constituency to vote

Borough Franchise

• Varied, 6 types of parliamentary boroughs:

• Freemen were electors

• Franchise restricted to paying a form of municipal taxation

• Franchise of only those who had a burgage (backgarden)

• Franchise of only the corporation 

• Franchise of male householders

• Franchise of freeholders of land

• Number of voters varied

• Mostly in the south as that was were industries and agriculture had been

• Bribery used often

• Largest borough: Westminster - 12,000 voters

• Rotten boroughs: very small electorates e,g, Old Sarum - had no people living there but had 7 burgage land plots owned by the Earl of Caledon who therefore could choose 2 MPs 

Political Parties

• One view: No party system. Just a network of aristocratic families using bribery, connection and patronage to control the HofC for their own interests. 

• Alternative: this was the beginning of political parties. Failure in the war w/ America (blamed on the King) formed a group that wanted to lessen the powers of the King (Whigs). 

• Some groups operated together to secure places in government e.g. Rockingham Whigs

• Some to safeguard the interest of particular groups e.g. the East India Company or industry 

Whigs

• Identified with support for the 1689 Glorious Revolution - replaced James II with Protestant monarchs

• Believed in Protestant succession, some toleration for religious Dissenters, more liberal view of CofE and sympathy for financial and commercial interests

• In 1714, Whigs supported Hanovers becoming monarchs and so helped power for most of the 18th century. During this time, their main opposition was between feuding Whig families rather than Tories.

• Wanted to limit the power of the King

Tories

• Party of the landed interest and the High Church Faction in the CofE

• Hostile to dissenters

• Did not support the Hanoverians so had minimal power when George I became King. 

Growth of Party 

• Geroge III hated the party system but by appointing ministers outside of mainstream Whig families e.g Lord North (who were then called Tories), he created a strong opposition

• Years leading up to 1783, there was a large and united Whig opposition (about 100 ppl) who challenged a seemingly Tory gov who supported monarchical rights. (Evans)

• Whiggism was the fundamental ideology of several political groups. It was not a unified or coherant party 

Ideology

• What divided Whigs from Tories 

• Whigs more open to parliamentary reform. Mainly pushed by younger Whigs like Grey with older Whigs like Burke rejecting this 

• Religion: Whigs more open to removing religious disabilities- following the Act of Union, pushed for more civil liberties for Irish Catholics. Tories opposed this - did not wanted dissenters of the CofE to be proper citizens

• Powers of the King: Whigs wanted to limit it. Tories supported that the King could form his own gov and choose his own ministers e.g. Duke of Wellington saying he would not refuse to lead a gov for the King even if he was told to pursue policies he disagreed with. 

• Relevance of party as idea: Fox believed in party organisation to check the personal power of the king, he attempted to build his own party and gathered 130 committed supporters, Pitt however, believed in the King's right to appoint his ministers and exert influence. He relied on the support of the King and by 1788 only had 52 personally committed supporters

• French Revolution and radical threat: whigs more receptive to the Revolution initially, Tories were not. But, moderate Whigs (like Portland and Burke) did split with Fox and allied with Pitt against France and Revolutionary ideas

• Fundamental similarities: supported the Established position of the Church. Most Whigs against the events of France and rejected radicalism (e.g. demands of Paine). Shared a reverence for the Constitution. Believed in gov by a hereditary landed interest - political power should be proportionate to property. 

• Ideological differences not enough to stop ppl working together eg. Portland (Tory) joining Pitt’s (whiggish) gov