Extension of the franchise (Gabe)

Question 1

Who were the NUWSS?

Answer 1

-suffragists
-open membership
-internally democratic
-peaceful protests
-national network of committees
-wrote pamphlets and letters and politicians, gave educational lectures and organised peaceful marches and petitions
-50,000 members spread across 400 branches by 1914

Question 2

Who were the WSPU?

Answer 2

-female only membership
-run by Pankhursts; no member input
-tried to intimidate government
-organisation centred in London in 1906
-used games, postcards and buttons as well as the use of their three signature colours, green white and purple, to raise awareness
-disrupted political party meetings,chained themselves to public railings, smashed windows, attacked police officers, set fire to buildings, destroyed letters and went on hunger strike in prison
-2,000-5,000 members by 1914

Question 3

What was the 1832 Great Reform Act?

Answer 3

Limited but symbolically important development of the franchise. Franchise extended to shopkeepers and small property owners whose property attracted a yearly rent of at least £10. Proportion of the population who could vote rose from 4% to 6%

Question 4

What was the 1867 Second Reform Act?

Answer 4

Doubled the electorate to around 2,000,000

Question 5

What was the 1872 Ballot Act?

Answer 5

Introduced the secret ballot. Voters could no longer be bought by corrupt candidates and were free to make up their own mind.

Question 6

What was the 1884 Third Reform Act?

Answer 6

Extended the franchise to most working men

Question 7

What was the 1918 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 7

Most adult men given the right to vote - plus women over 30 who were married, property owners in their own right or a graduate

Question 8

What was the 1928 Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act?

Answer 8

Extends franchise to all adults over 21

Question 9

What was the 1948 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 9

Stopped universities from returning their own MP and, in so doing, established the principle of ‘one person, one vote’

Question 10

What was the 1969 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 10

Reduced the UK voting age from 21 to 18

Question 11

What was the 2016 Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Act?

Answer 11

Allowed 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in all Scottish elections apart from UK referendums and general elections