1867 reform act

Question 1

How did the legacy of the 1832 reform act cause the 1867 reform act?

Answer 1

The Whigs made no attempt to deny that the £10 limit on the 1832 Reform Act was designed to exclude the lower classes from the vote.
Chartist movement was born from the aftermath of the Great Reform Act - despite its failure it kept alive radical ideas about reform. By 1850 the ideas presented by the Chartists no longer seemed too ambitious.
Aristocracy and landowning classes continued to have a strong and influential role in affairs.
Beginning of reform – although not its intention, it paved the way for future reform

Question 2

How did the role of Pressure groups cause the 1867 reform act?

Answer 2

Progressive middle class were pushing for new reforms
Richard Cobden – founder of Anti corn Law League 1839
- Made a series of speeches promoting the issue of reform in 1858 – although failed it kept the public aware of the situation.
1864 – National Reform Union – sought to extend the franchise to include all male rate payers, equal distribution of seats and a secret ballot
Liberal minded employers such as Samuel Morley, a wool manufacturer from Nottingham.
This gave this group a significant degree of influence
Respectable lobby group
1865 – Reform League
Wanted universal manhood suffrage and a secret ballot
More widespread support and many ex chartists and trade unionists
Demonstrations – assertive but respectable means of getting heard

Question 3

How did the actions of the political parties cause the 1867 reform?

Answer 3

Both Liberals and Conservatives had toyed with the idea of reform in the previous decade but there was limited demand for it
1864 – Gladstone expressed his views that working class should have the vote
March 1866 – Gladstone introduced a reform bill into the Commons. It was not that radical but the bill succeeded in dividing the Liberal Party. Robert Lowe led a group of Liberals into the ‘No’ voting lobby in the House of Commons and succeeded in brining down his own government. Lowe was opposed to the idea of equality he saw lurking behind the bill – the bill was defeated and government resigned.
Conservatives were in a minority government in June 1866 and they believed they could now market themselves not only as the resisters of change but as the developers of constitutional progress. Many tired of opposition and division
Role of Disraeli – Happy to adopt a more pragmatic approach - Immediately sought to introduce his own bill of reform in March 1867 – knew benefits it would bring to the party .
Cared more about future success of his party
Even the Queen was in favour of reform – 1867 speech made which offered the reform of parliament ‘without unduly disturbing the balance of power, shall freely extend the elective franchise

Question 4

What other factors caused the 1867 reform act?

Answer 4

American Civil War – debunked the idea that working class were selfish. Thousands continued to support the anti slavery movement despite losing jobs

Population changes – 24 million in 1821 to 31 million in 1861 – more people in towns now – electoral map out of date

Question 5

What changed under the 1867 reform act?

Answer 5

Distribution of seats
45 seats taken from boroughs with fewer than 10,000 people; seven were completely disenfranchised (seats in Parliament removed)
25 of these seats went to the counties; 20 went to new boroughs; six existing boroughs gained an extra seat and one seat was reserved for the University of London.
The franchise was extended to include:
in the boroughs, all male householders provided they had lived there for at least a year and lodgers who occupied property worth at least £10 for at least one year.
in the counties, in addition to the existing franchise, all owners or leaseholders of land worth £5 a year.
Almost 1 million new voters were added to the franchise virtually doubling the electorate in Britain.
In towns, the working class were now a majority in terms of voters whilst in the rural areas, it was firmly middle class.

Question 6

Successes of the 1867 reform act?

Answer 6

Gladstone toured the country giving speeches to the masses, realising that they had to be won over and couldn’t necessarily be relied on for their support. Furthermore, it showed that the working class had minds of their own and would vote as they wanted, not as they were expected.
With 2.46 million voters across the country, the parties began to recognise the importance of campaigning in order to win votes.
It was, perhaps, the realisation of this which enabled the Liberals to win in 1868 since many MPs toured the country making speeches in contrast to Disraeli who only printed written election addresses to the people (rather than making a speech to many).
This, in turn, led the parties to represent the people more and to take public interest into account.
The act created a more diverse electorate since the new voters included urban skilled workers (in 1832, new voters were mostly middle class and conservative) and the voting population increased to ⅓ of all adult males.
The redistribution of several seats to larger cities such as Liverpool and Manchester meant that, after 1867, political power began to shift to the largest section of society (workers) as opposed to the wealthiest.

Question 7

Failures of the 1867 reform act?

Answer 7

Large areas of the Midlands and the north were still under-represented whilst the southern counties were over-represented.
Property still determined the franchise in the counties.
In the boroughs, a residency clause demanding occupancy for at least a year discriminated against 30% of the working class population.
A system of plural voting was also permitted for those who owned property in both a borough and a county (meaning they could vote twice) and seats were reserved for prominent universities.