Parliamentary reform 1851-1886

Question 1

Why was consensus for parliamentary reform growing?

Answer 1

-Unification of Italy
-US civil war

Question 2

What was the 1866 Reform Bill?

Answer 2

-Proposed by Gladstone and Liberal Party and attempted to add 400k to the electorate

Question 3

Why was the Reform Bill defeated?

Answer 3

• Liberal anti-reformists Robert Lowe and the “Adamullites”/ “cave” opposed their own government and supported conservatives

Question 4

What was the aftermath of the bill being defeated?

Answer 4

• Outbreak in Hyde park riots by the reform league on 23 July 1866

Question 5

What was the 1867 Reform Act?

Answer 5

-Passed by Conservatives (Derby and Disraeli) and attempted to “dish the whigs” by taking credit for reform
-added nearly 1m new voters
-Disraeli accepted all amendments apart from Gladstone’s including Hodgkinson’s which added 500k by abolishing compounding.

Question 6

What was a limitation of the 1867 reform Act?

Answer 6

-rural areas still over represented as Disraeli wanted to maintain Cons. support
-Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester were only given 1 extra set (on top of the 2 they already had)

Question 7

When was the Secret Ballot act passed?

Answer 7

-1872

Question 8

When was the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act passed and what did it do?

Answer 8

-1883
-stopped illegal actions being used to manipulate elections

Question 9

When was the 2nd reform Act (representation of the people) passed what did it do?

Answer 9

-1884
- electorate rose from 2.5m to 5m (2/3 men could vote) and gave the vote to rural workers which were ignored by Disraeli in 1867

Question 10

Why was the representation of the people act 1884 delayed?

Answer 10

• The lords vetoed it (as majority were Cons.) and the conservatives demanded that a representation of seats act must be passed before the reform act could be passed
  -This is because the act would reduce conservative seats by 47 Mp’s

Question 11

What was the redistribution of seats act and when was it passed

Answer 11

-1885
-Created smaller constituencies and resolved urban rural distribution of seats and created seats in M/C suburbs which led to Villa Toryism and Conservative ascendancy in subsequent years.
-142 seats redistributed - Lancashire =14 to 58 + Cornwall = 44 to 7

Question 12

What was the impact of the Reform act 1884 and secret ballot act

Answer 12

-Increased the representation in Ireland which led to 86 seats for IPP in 86 and enabled them to hold the balance of power.