Britain Breadth (1): Reform of Parliament

Question 1

Representation of the people act 1832 (consequences)

Answer 1

number of positive changes, particularly in redistributing seats away from the rotten boroughs to the growing industrial towns. However, many faults of the pre-reform parliament remained.
- 143 seats redistributed
- The number of voters in constituencies varied enormously. 35 boroughs with less than 30 voters and the south remained over-represented compared to the north.
- The electorate increased 20% men could vote but it remained a small percentage of the population 90% of all adults still couldn’t vote.
- In Preston the men entitled to vote dropped from 88% to 11.6% by 1851.
- Intimidation, corruption and bribery remained rife. One reformer spent £6000 on his election campaigns in Nottingham in 1834 and 37.
- Legally denied women the vote for the first time
- Put Britain on the path to further franchise extension.
- £10 property qualification removed some working class men from the franchise. But provided uniform rules for voting.
- Chandos agreement actually strengthened the grip of landowner MPs
- did not change the hustings, the wealthy still dominated the vote.

Question 2

1832 ROPA (Causes)

Answer 2

Earl Grey “My object is not to favour but put an end to such hopes” - November 1831.
- Friends of the people (Whig) promoted moderate refrom
- Paranoia reform would lead to revolution (Fears caused by French rev).
- Peaceful protest e.g. BPU led 100,000 in a peaceful protest march over 100 political unions across UK.
- Violent protest: days of may 1832. Swing riots 1830

Question 3

Representation of the people act 1867 (causes )

Answer 3

• Proposed by Disraeli’s government, a tactical move by the conservatives to cede the towns they were losing in whilst strengthening their position in the countryside.
• Hyde park riot = 200,000 people 1866
• Death of Palmerstone removed a significant barrier to reform.
• Gladstone was converted to the cause.
• Darby formed conservative gov w/ Disraeli = cold political calculation.
• 1864 reform union (middle class), 1865 reform league (working class), pressured reform.

Question 4

1867 ROPA (consequences)

Answer 4

• extended the vote in boroughs and householders and lodgers who had been residents for at least 12 months.
• in the counties more landowners and tenant farmers were registered to vote.
• Electorate nearly doubled form 1.36 to 2.46 million, most of increase was made up of the urban working class.
• Agricultural labourers were still largely without the vote, the radical objective of equal constituencies was far from being realised.

Question 5

1884 ROPA (causes)

Answer 5

Ideological conviction: Joseph Chamberlain = driving force.
Main barrier: Conservatives and House of Lords.
Pragmatism: Counties were controlled by landowning and wealthy farmers voting conservative. Extending vote to agricultural labourers who were likely to vote Liberal threatened the Tory hold over the countryside.
Compromise: Arlington street compact. Lord Salisbury agreed to the act if it was followed by a redistribution of seats.

Question 6

Representation of the people act 1884 (consequences)

Answer 6

Gave the vote to all householders, whether in borough or county constituencies. This increased the electorate by approximately 2.5 million. 85%.
While the third reform act continued the extension of the franchise among the labouring classes, barriers remained to the exercise of the vote - was difficult to travel to vote, polls opened at eight when people were already at work and closed at eight - leaving those with a long way to travel little time to vote.
1/3 of men and all women still excluded from the franchise.

Question 7

Representation of the people act 1918

Answer 7

On the eve of WW1, 65% of men and no women had the vote, giving Britain one of the least representative electoral systems in Europe. 1918 ROPA dramatically changed this, extending the vote to all men over 21 and women over 30 who met a property qualification.
- The war was a crucial accelerator of franchise reform.
Despite it’s huge scope this act wasn’t the end of the road towards democracy. Women had to wait until 1928 to gain the vote on equal terms to men.
Only 40% of women could vote.
Nancy Astor first woman to take a seat in the house of commons 1919.
Trippled the electorate from 7-21 million - largest numerically so far.
Issue of reform addressed at speakers conference in 1916.

Question 8

Representation of the people act 1928

Answer 8

Sometimes seems an inevitability but there are three main causes:
* Feminist pressure groups such as the National union of societies for equal citizenship (NUSEC) kept the continued inequality a live political issue.
* LP kept equal suffrage on the political agenda as it had more to gain from working women having the vote.
* Deciding factor was the conservative party. Women’s organisation was the fastest growing element. Baldwin saw them as key to future success. In 1927 his government agreed to support equal franchise.
Opposition remained, the Daily mail led a hate-campaign against giving the vote to ‘flappers’.
* 14.5 mill women voters, 12.25 mill male.

Question 9

The Franchise c1780

Answer 9

Not democratic, elections were intended to ensure that the interests of every part of the country were represented, and that an element of competition took place between the aristocracy and county gentry.
40 counties which each selected 2 MPs. E.g. Yorkshire had 20,000 votes.
In the 1780 election only 2 counties actually fought an election contest.
Over half of the broughs could be bought and the average price was £3,000 - £4,000. bought by major political families
122 MPs represented counties and 532 MPs represented boroughs.

Question 10

Pressures for change and reasons for resistance

Answer 10

Industrialisation led to gradual change in the balance of the economy. Also changed the social make-up of the country with the emergence of a new middle class. Industrial interests weren’t strongly represented in parliament manifesting a mismatch between parliament and the people, leading to growing pressure.
- Impact of the FR: sparked serious interest in reform and widespread demand for change i.e. LCS 1792. Whigs hoped to control the pace of change by promoting modest amendments to the electoral system (friends of the people 1792).
- Post war unrest 1815-30: Economic downturn and the impact of industrialisation created a toxic mixture of grievances. Short-term popular protest failed, long-term they revived interest in parliamentary reform. End of Tory dominance.

Question 11

The problems of representation c1780

Answer 11

Survey conducted in 1780: electorate of Britain and Wales = less than 3% of a population of around 8 million.
Large industrial cities didn’t have a single MP whereas rotten boroughs were still sending 2 MPs, e.g. Dunwich which had a population of 32 in 1831.
Before 1832 60-75% of seats weren’t contested at all at a general election.
Electoral system didn’t take into account changes in the distribution of the population.
- distribution refers to where the constituencies are whereas frachise refers to who could exercise the vote.

Question 12

The failure of Pitt’s proposals

Answer 12

1785 introduced a bill to remove 36 Rotten boroughs. Bill was defeated 248 to 174 because of opostion from the property owners and Pitt’s political rival, Fox.

Question 13

Reasons for resistance and Key changes brought about by reform: ROPA 1832

Answer 13

56 over-represented areas like Old Sarum lost their constituencies and 30 boroughs were reduced to one MP, 22 constituencies with 2 MPs and 20 with 1 MP were created. Helped to rebalance distribution of seats.
Whigs were determined to remove the worst excess of the old representative system but did not introduce any mathematical uniformity in the distribution of seats. New seats reflected economic interests rather than the populations of the towns. Anomilies remained.
1832 general election 74% of constituencies hekd elections rather than appointing but this fell to 60% until 1867.

Question 14

Reasons for resistance and Key changes brought about by reform: ROPA 1867

Answer 14

Further constituency reorganisation, not directly for progress but to retain conservative dominance in certain areas.
334 borough MPs represented 9.5 million people while 11.5 million people in the counties had just 162 members.
less substantial than the changes made in 1832
The 25 new seats led to a strengthening of the landed interest whose members tended to favour the conservatives.
Constituencies were still not balanced in size and the hustings were still open to landowner influence and corruption.

Question 15

The Ballot Act 1872

Answer 15

Gladstone was concerned w/ the publicity given to widespread corruption and intimidation that took place before a poll. Secret ballot would reduce the intimidation and corruption that the new electorate would face. The bill was not controversial and passed easily. Immediate effects weren’t clear. Most important short-term effect was in Ireland where supporters of home rule were now less open to intimidation.

Question 16

Corrupt practises act 1883

Answer 16

Sudbury had been disenfranchised for corruption on a large scale in 1844, but dubious practises remained a prominent feature in electoral contests. The act set stringent limits on campaign expenses. Eng and wales candidates could spend no more than £710 for the first 2000 voters. Candidates and their agents had to keep record of their expenditures. Although there was some evidence of illegal practises after 1833, the act finally brought an end to the culture of electoral corruption that had existed for centuries.

Question 17

Redistribution act 1885

Answer 17

In 1867and 1864, opponents of parliamentary reform had recognised that it would not be possible to imply ignore the refrom movement, but rather it had to be controlled.
Removed both MPs from boroughs w/ less than 15,000 inhabitants and 1 MP from those w/ less than 50,000. 142 removed seats were redistributed amongst more densely populated areas. 647 out of 670 constituencies were now single-member constituencies. Cornwall lost 37 seats whilst Lancashire gained 44.
boundary commission set up to redraw boundries in case of population changes.
constituencies became distinctly rural or uran, protected and strengthened the conservatives. ‘Villa Toryism’

Question 18

Reasons for resistance and Key changes brought about by reform: ROPA 1918

Answer 18

No major redistribution of seats. Patterns of redistribution were designed to provide some advantage in party power. Continued the work of 1885. One impact was to create more suburban, middle-class constituencies in working-class inner-city ares, and this increased conservative votes.

Question 19

Chandos Amendment 1832

Answer 19

Gave the vote to wealthier tenent farmers, increased the electorate by approx 130,000. However, strengthened the grip of landowner MPs as they voted according to the preferences of their landlord.

Question 20

Consequences of 1885 redistribution act

Answer 20

The Whig / Liberal Party had been seen as the ‘natural’ government of Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, with the Conservatives offering the opposition. After 1885, the Conservatives became the ‘natural’ government of Britain, with the Liberals an electoral third place after WW1, and Labour as the opposition party.
The abolition of the county/borough distinction, thus creating the suburb as a constituency, in effect re-drew Britain’s constituencies to aid the Conservative Party. Suburbs had previously been within borough constituencies, more likely to vote Liberal with the more populous town or city centre, the voting impact of the suburbs was diluted. Separating the suburbs out in effect created Conservative seats, as these areas of cities were more likely to vote Conservative.

Question 21

Extent of change by 1928

Answer 21

Major redrawing of constituency boundaries meant that the population of Britain was equally represented in the sense that each area had proportionately the same number of MP’s as other areas. No areas were unrepresented. When cities grew the boundary commission would ensure that boundaries shifted out to balance out the areas and keep elections representative of the population.