How significant was party rivalry in keeping reform alive after 1832??

Question 1

Party rivalry

Answer 1

• After defeat in 1832 the tory party went about rebranding itself, as the new ‘conservative party’ under Robert Peel,. A new group of tories emerged who realised that moderate reform would be beneficial to their party
• as early as 1852 Lord Russell, liberal lord Russell proposed reducing borough qualifications from £10 to £6
• the tories opposed this as they saw the qualification as being too low and came up with their own bill which was would very slightly extend the franchise to include more people in the counties; as these were heartlands of conservative supporters they thought this would be most beneficial to them
• the whigs party also tried to rebrand themselves after 1832, and became known as liberals, as they adopted a more pragmatic and inclusive number of non-aristocratic members (Lower classes), increasing reliance on these people

Competition between parties was very significant in keeping reform alive after 1832 because it showed the lower classes that they were going in the right direction to gaining even more democracy in GB, and that there was still further discussion at the top of politics about further reform, showing that 1832 wasn’t enough for neither the politicians or the people of Britain to be satisfied

Question 2

National reform league and unions

Answer 2

Facts- Both set up in 1864, both wanted extended franchise to all males, a secret ballot, and the NRU wanted equal distribution of seats. They were middle class liberals

• NRL being slightly more radical, however they were more popular, attracted many ex chartists and used non violent demonstrations that were widely successful and hard for the government to ignore.
• NRU had Samuel Morley, a nottingham MP in 1865 who believed in universal suffrage to empower society
• NRL organised the Hyde park riots and Birmingham reform demonstrations in 1866
• Politicians who supported them could also gain support by pushing for further reform, a legitimate reason for the 1867 reform act; a way to gain further support for the parties.

The peaceful yet powerful nature of these groups put a massive amount of pressure on parliament, especially due to the increasing role and power of the middle class that was increased by the 1832 act. Their demands for further reform were hard to ignore when they were getting MPs on side whilst simultaneously running the IR

Question 3

Legacy of the 1832 act

Answer 3

Facts

• whigs made no attempt to deny the fact that the £10 land owning clause was designed to exclude the lower classes
• still only 18% of the male population was able to vote post 1832
• the chartist movement campaign heavily as a result of the failure of the 1832 act to accommodate them; their multiple petitions in 1839,42 and 48 as well as the Newport uprising in 1839 and plug riots 1842 showed the extent that the lower classes were willing to go to persuade the government
• landowning elite still had too much influence and comparatively the lower and middle classes had no where near enough

Though not its intention, the 1832 act served as a starting point for even further reform, and its lack of changes motivated both the Lower and middle Classes to put increasing pressure on the government to pass reform

Question 4

Role of Disraeli

Answer 4

Facts-

• • 1866, Gladstone introduced a reform bill (not radical) which reduced borough franchise to workers earning £7 a year which would include 200,000 more workers, in counties the £50 a year rental requirement was reduced to £14 to bring in 170,000 more voters. This split the liberals, and Lowe led a group of people who voted against the bill, which saw it fail.
• Disraeli was chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the commons when him and the tories formed a minority government under Earl of Derby in 1866
• sensed there was a mood for parliamentary change and wanted to take political advantage by being the party to advertise moderate reform, gaining support from those who would be given franchise. Would extend franchise to urban voters who voted liberal, but expected them to vote tory for extending the franchise. The bill that was passed included a larger franchise than Disraeli had proposed at the beginning, showing its success

Explanation- Although Disraeli was defeated by Gladstone in the 1868 elections after replacing Earl of Derby as PM, he changed parliamentary attitudes so that they realised the importance of providing political change to the masses, which allows Gladstone and the liberals to beat Disraeli in the election. The outside pressure may have influenced this change of attitudes among politicians, but without internal work from people like Disraeli and Gladstone, reform wouldn’t be possible anyway, making it a more important reason in getting reform.