improving membership to the house of commons - did attempts help britain become more democratic by 1918

Question 1

why did membership to the house of commons need to be improved?

Answer 1

because in order to call britain a fully democratic country by 1918 - it was important all members of society felt represented

Question 2

before 1911 what was membership to the house of commons like

Answer 2

almost all mps where wait her middle class or extremely wealthy men and this was because MPs were not paid and so these were the only members of society who could afford to stand for election

Question 3

what did the parliament act, 1911 state

Answer 3

MPs would receive a salary of £400 a year and the life of parliament changed from 7 years to 5 allowing for more frequent change

Question 4

this therefor means britain did become a more democratic country by 1918 because

Answer 4

the introduction of the parliament act meant that the social spread of men in parliament improved with some working class men now considering standing for election - the 1918 qualification of women act also gave women the right to stand for election

Question 5

however britain was not fully democratic by 1918 because

Answer 5

in order to stand as a candidate you have to be able to vote and with the 1918 qualification of women act many stilll couldn’t vote and thus could not stand. (most of those who could vote also choose not too) men faced a similar challenge in 1911 when 40% still couldn’t vote and thus couldn’t be elected

Question 6

upon evaluation britain was therefor not a fully democratic country by 1918 as….

Answer 6

there were still issues preventing people from standing for election and in terms of women becoming mps, progress was slow.
in the 1918 general election for example of the 1623 candidates only 17 were women