Breath Summary Flashcards
What changes did 1832 make to the borough franchises
- £10 borough franchise did not lead to w/c voting, but ensured that shopkeepers, m/c and some skilled craftsmen had the vote - these people not convinved of the need for further reform
What changes did 1832 make to the county franchises
- the county seat franchise grows marginally to small landowners loyal to large landowners (resulting in an inconsistency between rich & poor areas)
What was the Chandos Clause
- The Chandos clause, introduced by Lord Chandos to the 1832 Reform Act, enfranchised tenants-at-will paying an annual rent of £50 in the counties, effectively expanding the electorate and strengthening the political influence of landowners
What was the qualification to vote after the 1832 reform act
- Boroughs - £10 freeholders can vote
- Counties - £12 freeholders can vote
How many adult males can vote from the 1832 reform act
- 1 in 5 adult males - 800,000, including more middle class voters than before
How many boroughs were disenfranchised in 1832
- 56 rotten/pocket boroughs disenfranchised
- 145 borough seats abolished in total
What new seats were created in 1832 reform act
- 22 new member boroughs created
- 65 new county seats created so more populous counties gained more seats - defending interests of propertied classes
Give one example of inequality which continued to exist after 1832
- Totness (179 registered to vote) had the same number of MPs as Liverpool (8500)
Explain what the property qualification act was
- An income of £600 a year for county MPs
- & £300 a year for borough MPs, was abolished
Why did the property qualification act 1858 come about
- Glover, an MP, was arrested after his qualification as an MP included fraud,
- failing to ignore his property was heavily morgaged,
- however its estimated over 1/2 of the MPs did this
What changes did 1867 make to the borough franchises
- adult males owning houses could now vote if at least a resident for 12 months (household franchise)
- & also lodgers of property worth £10 who had stayed for 12 months
What changes did 1867 make to the franchises
- 1 in 3 adult males (householder franchise)
describe the inequalities still there from the 1867 reform act borough franchise
- w/c dominate the borough electorate for the first time
- In Birmigham voters rise from 8,000 to 43,000
What change did 1867 make to the county franchise
- adult males owning or leasing labd worth £5
- men occupying lan with rateable land value of £12
Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised in 1867
45 seats taken from boroughs with <10,000
Give details of the boroughs that gained seats in 1867
- Liverpool & Manchester get a 3rd MP
- 25 seats given to counties
Give one impact on parties of the 1867 reform act
- Party organisation developed as they began using paid local agents to recruit & retain new members
Following the 1967 how did overrep continue
SW England had 45 MPs while NE had 32
how is aristocratic power maintained in the counties from 1867
- in counties most laboureres are still excluded from voting
- county electorate grows by 46% and remains solidly m/c
- urban liberal voters prevented from voting in county elections by carefully managed boundary changes
Explain what the 1872 ballot act was
- it meant that voting became private introduced the secret ballot
Explain why the 1872 ballot act came about
- radicals felt it would give voters greater freedom & Gladstone felt compelled to accept policy ideas radicals in order to keep his coalition together
Shortterm Impacts of the 1872 secret ballot act
- until 1883, votes could still be bought with treating remaining commonplace
- did not lead to reudction in employers influence over workers
Longterm Impacts of the 1872 secret ballot act
- longterm did enable democratic system to become more representative & democratic,
- improved efficiency in electoral process
- political groups such as Irish Home Rule could finally oppose traditionally powerful regimes in certain areas
Explain what the 1883 Corrupt Practises Act was
- set a limit on expenditure & prohobited treating & bribery
- it required expenditure to be accounted for & introduced penalties
Why did the 1883 Corrupt Practises Act came about
- the 1872 act didn’t stop bribery, & due to an increased electorate since 1867, more people to bribe
- e.g in Gloucester, 38% of the 5670 electors had taken bribes
Imapcts of the 1883 Corrupt Practises Acts
- it worked - within 30 years the amount spent per vote fell from £18 to £3
- given the limits on expenditure, the use of volunterrs by parties was now essential
- costs of elections still remained high for those involved - salaries of election agents had to be met
- 20% of elections remained uncontested as MPs still not paid
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 now vote following the 1884 reform act
- 2 in 3 adult males, so 5.7 million could now vote
- these now included agricultural labourers & miners whose villages existed within the county franchise & not the boroughs
imapct of 1884 on aristocracy
redistribution of rural seats and extension of county franchise meant strangehold of aristocratic landowners gone for ever - aristocratic delcine sped up
why was franchise extention limited for 1884
complexities of registration & residential qualification effectively disenfarnchised many working men
limitation of corruption from 1884
plural voting continued - 500,000 in 1911
Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised in 1885
- boroughs with populations <15,000 lose their MPs
- & those with <50,000 lose 1 MP
- nearly all constituencies were of a similar size in terms of population & single member
Why was the creation of more single member constituencies in 1885 significant
- stops liberals & radicals sharing towns between themselves
Impact of 1885 on London
- London’s MPs increased from 22-59
- conservativesbegin to win most seats in london, had won 0 in 1865
Impact of 1885 on the Irish
- Ireland remained over-represented
- Irish nationalists held the balance of power in 1885, 1892, 1910
impact of 1911
- allows common to overrule lords in some situations
- lords power susbstantially reduced - only delay bills for 2 years
- never again would a pm govern from the HofL
Outline the 2 changes that were made by the Parliament Act 1911
- introduction of salaries for MPs
- HofL prevented from rejecting or amending a money bill
Which party was most likely to benefit from the Parliament Act, 1911
- Labour, as more w/c men can become MPs because of the introduction of MP salaries
What changes did the 1918 Act make to the franchise
- women over the age of 30 win the votes
- men over the ages of 21 win the vote
- increasing the franchise from 7.7 - 21.4 million - most isgnficant enlargement in franchise in british history
How changes did 1918 make to redistribution
- establishes 70,000 population as key unit for 1 member constituencies
What other changes did the 1918 make
- returning public officers paid for from public funds
Following the 1918 reform act, what adults remained excluded from the franchise
- women aged 21 to 30
With the 1918 reform act, why did women aged 21 to 30 not get the vote
- could be as politicians had to cede at least some women to vote as to avoid the promised resurgence of militant suffrage action
How many extra voters were added to the electorate by the 1928 act
- 5 million new voters added
Impact of 1911 on labour
- cheaper elections
- enfranchisement of millions of w/c men
- were to from first govt in 1924
Impact of 1918 on conservatives
- redistribution helps tories by creating more m/c suburban seats - rose from 48 to 200 after 1918
