Chapter 1.2 A wide franchise and debates over suffrage

Question 1

What does suffrage mean?

Answer 1

The right to vote in elections

Question 2

Which groups of people have the right to vote in the UK?

Answer 2

• All adults over the age of 18
• British and Irish citizens can vote in each other’s countries
• Commonwealth citizens
• UK nationals who’ve lived abroad for less than 15 years

Question 3

Which groups of people are excluded from taking part in parliamentary elections?

Answer 3

• People under the age of 18
• EU citizens (apart from Irish Republic)
• Prisoners (challenged by European Court of Human Rights, but ignored by government)
• Members of Parliament

Question 4

Which flaws of the electoral system existed between the late Middle Ages & the early 19th century?

Answer 4

• There were two types of constituency: the counties and the boroughs
• Plural voting was allowed under law
• Most women were excluded from voting
• Distribution of parliamentary seats had not kept pace with economic growth and the population movement

Question 5

Why was having two type of constituency in the late Middle Ages to the early 19th century seen as a major flaw of the electoral system?

Answer 5

Two types of constituency: boroughs and counties.

• In counties, only those who owned property worth at least 40 shillings could vote.
• In some boroughs, all free men could vote, whereas in others it depended on property ownership or tax payment.

The qualifications for voting were inherently elitist.

Question 6

Why was the existence of plural voting in the late Middle Ages to the early 19th century seen as a major flaw of the electoral system?

Answer 6

It allowed wealthy men who owned property in more than one constituency to vote

Question 7

What is wrong with the fact that the distribution of parliamentary seats had not kept place with economic growth and population movement from the late Middle Ages to the early 19th century?

Answer 7

Emerging industrial towns were yet to acquire representation of their own. There was also a growth of the Jewish and Irish immigration population in the 19th century.

Question 8

What is a Rotten Borough?

Answer 8

A constituency with hardly any voters

Question 9

Which Act brought about the first major change to the UK electoral system?

Answer 9

The 1832 Great Reform Act

Question 10

Which changes did the 1832 Reform Act implement?

Answer 10

• Granted the vote to new groups of people like tenant farmers and smaller property owners
• Abolished rotten boroughs and created seats for urban areas like Manchester
• Created a standard of qualification for the franchise: all male householders living in properties who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more

Question 11

What was the main consequence of the 1832 Reform Act?

Answer 11

Gave the vote to an additional 5% of the population

Question 12

How was the 1832 Reform Act further extended?

Answer 12

Through the Reform Act of 1867, the Representation of the People Act and the Equal Franchise Act

Question 13

What was the Reform Act of 1867?

Answer 13

It was an Act that enfranchised borough householders, these were working class men (13% of adults could vote)

Question 14

What was the Representation of the People Act of 1884?

Answer 14

It was an Act that ensured rural and urban constituencies had the same population (25% of adults could vote)

Question 15

What was the Representation of the People Act of 1918?

Answer 15

Enfranchised men over 21 and some women over 30.

75% of adults could vote

Question 16

Which Act equalised the terms for voting between men and women?

Answer 16

The Equal Franchise Act of 1928

Full adult suffrage

Question 17

Which Act put an end to plural voting?

Answer 17

The Representation of the People Act of 1948

Question 18

Which Act reduced the voting age from 21 to 18?

Answer 18

The Representation of the People Act of 1969

Question 19

Why was the exclusion of women from the franchise largely unchallenged until the late 19th century?

Answer 19

People assumed that married women were represented by votes cast by their husbands

It was believed that only men should have a say on issues of national importance, so women could vote in local council elections but not parliamentary ones

Question 20

When did the situation for women’s disenfranchisement begin to change?

Answer 20

When the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies was established in 1897

Question 21

Who was the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies?

Answer 21

They were mainly middle-class women known as “suffragists” whose gain was for women to have the vote

Question 22

What methods did the suffragists use?

Answer 22

They used non-violent methods of persuasion such as peaceful demonstrations, petitions and lobbying MPs

Question 23

Which radical feminist group formed in replacement of the suffragists?

Answer 23

The Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903

Question 24

Who was the Women’s Social and Political Union?

Answer 24

They were a mixture of middle and working class women known as “suffragettes”

Question 25

What differentiated the suffragettes from the suffragists?

Answer 25

The suffragettes believed in using militant tactics to persuade

Question 26

How did the suffragettes plan to obtain the vote for women?

Answer 26

By gaining publicity and attacking notorious institutions and disrupting political meetings to put pressure on parliament

Question 27

Who was Emily Davison?

Answer 27

She was a suffragette who threw herself under the king’s horse at Epsom Derby in 1913, this garnered huge publicity

Question 28

What attitudes did the suffragettes attract?

Answer 28

They attracted hostility, but also sympathy for their strength and endurance.

Question 29

What happened to suffragettes who were imprisoned?

Answer 29

They went on hunger strikes, which caused the authorities to resort to force-feeding.

This garnered more publicity and depicted the liberal government of the day as harsh.

Question 30

How did the suffragettes show moderation?

Answer 30

They suspended their campaign on the outbreak of WW1.

Question 31

Why was the Representation of the People’s Act of 1918 introduced?

Answer 31

Mainly due to growing pressure to give the vote to all working-class men as many who had served in the armed forces were not householders, so they had no stake in the political system for which they were expected to lay down their lives.

Question 32

What is the main argument regarding the effectiveness of the suffragette’s tactics?

Answer 32

The suffragettes may have alienated potential supporters through the use of violent tactics

Question 33

Why is the suffragettes movement seen as important?

Answer 33

Because it kept the issue of voting rights on the agenda in the decade before WW1

Question 34

What is thought may have happened if the right of women to vote was not granted?

Answer 34

The campaign would have restarted in a political environment more favorable to the idea of equality

Question 35

What impact did WW1 have on the Representation of the People’s Act of 1918?

Answer 35

As large numbers of women were recruited into vital jobs vacated by men who had left to fight, this persuaded the government of their fitness for the vote.

However, most female workers were young and unmarried, so did not benefit directly from the 1918 legislation.

Question 36

How did women contribute to the war effort?

Answer 36

Women vastly occupied dangerous jobs at munition factories due to the high demand of weaponry for war

Question 37

What popularised the campaign to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16?

Answer 37

The Scottish independence referendum in 2014, whereby those that were sixteen or seventeen were allowed to vote

Question 38

Which major parties were in favour of reducing the voting age to 16 in the 2015 general election?

Answer 38

All major parties except from the Conservatives

Question 39

What are the main arguments for lowering the voting age to sixteen?

Answer 39

• Votes at 16 would be consistent with other areas of responsibility e.g. they can marry, join the army, etc
• It would reduce the political alienation of young people who are likely to be aware of issues at 16 as they would be at 18
• Citizenship Education at GCSEs and Politics at A-level equips young people with necessary knowledge about the constitution
• A wide range of political issues affect them too e.g. tax rates, public transport, university tuition fees, etc.

Question 40

What are the main argument against lowering the voting age to 16?

Answer 40

• Many of the things people aged 16 can do are still circumscribed. For example, they can get married and join the army but only with parental consent.
• At 16, they may not have the life experience and maturity to make political judgments
• As the majority of people aged 16 live with their parents and go to school, they are vulnerable to being influenced
• Most other countries have chosen 18.

Question 41

Which statistic supports lowering the voting age to 16?

Answer 41

The turnout for people aged 16 and 17 in the Scottish referendum was more than 70%

Question 42

Which statistic support keeping the voting age at 18?

Answer 42

Levels of participation in the UK elections are lowest for the 18-24 age group, so it is unlikely that lowering the voting age would set a new trend