breadth 1: Changes in representation in Britain (1832-1928) Flashcards
who is included in the franchise due to the 1832 GRA
- Boroughs + counties: male landowners can vote
when were the 3 reform acts
- 1832
- 1867
- 1884
How many adult males can vote from the 1832 reform act (representation)
- 1 in 5 adult males - 800,000
How many boroughs were disenfranchised in 1832
- 56 rotten boroughs were disenfranchised in 1832
what is evidence of pressure from below for the 1832 GRA
- Swing Movement 1830: protests due to use of threshing (machinery) machines
- Days of May 1832: a period of social + political unrest after the Tories blocked the 3rd Reform Bill in the HoL
what was the 1858 Property Qualifications for MPs Act
- parliaments candidates / MPs no longer had to own property, thus opening up parliament to the MC + WC
Why did the property qualification act 1858 come about
- Glover (MP), was arrested after his qualification as an MP included fraud, as his property was heavily mortgaged, however its estimated over 1/2 of the MPs did this
- the PQ was an outdated artificial barrier for becoming an MP
What changes did 1867 2nd reform act make to the borough franchise
- adult males owning/ renting houses
- no change in counties
what was the proportion of men who could vote after the 1867 RA
- 1 in 3 adult males
Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised in 1867
- seats were taken from boroughs with a population less than 10,000
1867: _____ electorate grows by ___% ; the ___ dominate the borough electorate for the 1st time
- 1867: borough electorate grows by 134% ; the w/c dominate the borough electorate for the 1st time
Give examples of the boroughs that gained seats in 1867
- Liverpool & Manchester get a 3rd MP
what was the 1872 Secret Ballot Act
- made voting private/ introduced the secret ballot
what was the pressure from below for the 1872 SBA
- radicals felt it would give voters more freedom & Gladstone felt compelled to accept policy ideas from radicals in order to keep his coalition together
what was the 1883 Corrupt Practises Act
- set a limit on expenditure & prohibited treating & bribery
Why did the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act came about
- the 1872 act didn’t stop bribery, & due to an increased electorate since 1867, more people to bribe
What changes did 1884 make in the borough & county franchises
- household suffrage & the lodger franchise was extended to the counties
How many adult males could vote due to the 1884 3rd RA
- 2 in 3 adult males, so 5.7 million could now vote
Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised from the 1885 Redistribution Act
- boroughs with populations less than 15,000 lose all MPs
- those with less than 50,000 lose 1 MP
Outline the 2 changes that were made by the Parliament Act 1911
- introduction of salaries for MPs
- HofL prevented from rejecting or amending (changing) a money bill
Which party was most likely to benefit from the Parliament Act, 1911
- Labour; more w/c men can become MPs because of the introduction of MP salaries
when was the Representation of the People Act
- 1918
What changes did the 1918 Act make to the franchise
- women 30yrs+ who own property win the votes
- men 21yrs+ living at a fixed address fro 6mnths win the vote
in the 1918 RofPA, the number of voters tripled from ___m (1910) to ___m (1918)
in the 1918 RofPA, the number of voters tripled from 7.7m (1910) to 21.4m (1918)
Following the 1918 reform act, which adult remained excluded from the franchise
- women aged 21 to 30
what was the name of the 1928 act
- the 1928 Equal Franchise Act
who + how many extra voters were added to the electorate by the 1928 act
- 5 million new voters; all women 21+ could now vote
define turning point
- turning point = a marked shift in development
what are the 4 criteria used to assess reform acts
- electorate: numerical increase, makeup of gender / class
- distribution of seats across areas
- corruption: plural voting, secret ballot, expenditure, rotten boroughs
- payment of MPs
outline the 1790 Acts under Pitt’s Govt
- seditious writings + publications act (1792): authorised Govt to use spies to infiltrate rad. groups
- suspension of habeas corpus (1794): allowed auth. to detain suspects w/o trial
- Treason Trials (1794): 40+ radicals (including LCS leaders Thomas Hardy, John Horn Tooke) arrested + charged with high treason
state an example of a rotten borough before the 1832 GRA
- Dunwich
- Old Sarum
between ______-__, when the economy was stable, there wasn’t a single _______ for political reform
- between 1824-29, when the economy was stable, there wasn’t a single petition for political reform
name 2 significant whig reform acts
- The Factory Act 1833
- The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
outline the The Factory Act 1833
- reduced child labour hours;
- those 9-13yrs could only work 8 hrs
- 13-18 could work max 12 hrs
- under 13s had to do 2 hrs of schooling
outline The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
- no outdoor poor relief given to able-bodied poor
- workhouse conditions deliberately poor to deter use of poor relief
the Corn Laws were seen as…
- the Corn Laws were seen as a symbol of the aristocracy’s privileged position
after the 1832 GRA, _____ said it was “a final and _____ ____”, not a basis for future ______
- after the 1832 GRA, Peel said it was “a final and irrevocable settlement”, not a basis for future reform
by ____, there were about ______ plural voters
- by 1910, there were about 500,000 plural voters
