Parliamentary Reform - Representation in Britain from 1780-1928 Flashcards
Problems of Representation in 1780 - Standardisation of constituencies?
No standardisation of the size and type of constituency – counties had two MPs (except Yorkshire which had four) regardless of the pop or
Problems of Representation in 1780 - Over-representation and under-representation - Old Sarum and rotten boroughs, no of boroughs with over 1000 pop in 1830, representation of industrial cities?
There were significantly over-represented places such as Old Sarum with seven votes – these were known as rotten boroughs – only 43 of the 202 parliametary boroughs in 1830 had pops over 1000 – on the other hand the newer major industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham had pops of 144,000 and 182,000 with no representation in P
Problems of Representation in 1780 - Imbalance in the distribution of seats
Geographical imbalance to the distribution of seats - rural Cornwall (300,000 pop) sent 42 MPs while urbanised Lancashire (1.3 million pop) sent 14
The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What happened in 1785?
In 1785, PM Pitt proposed reforms to the constitution with the aim of making the system more representative – he was the first PM to propose this and was in part due to his progressive nature
The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What were Pitt’s proposals also designed to do?
However, it was also to win support from the county gentry, especially a group called the County Association which demanded more than 100 county MPs and annual general elections – this had been a problem for the previous PM, Lord North, and were supported by Pitt’s political rival Fox
The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What were the specifics of Pitt’s reforms?
Pitt’s proposals were to remove 36 small boroughs and to redistribute 72 sears among county and city constituencies, to use £1 million to compensate borough property owners who lost their political influence, and to extend to 40 shilling franchise in the counties to long-term renters
The failure of Pitt’s proposals - Votes on the proposals in the Commons and why it failed?
However, the bill was defeated 248 to 174 due to opposition from the borough property owners and Pitt’s political rival Fox
The Representation of the People Act 1832 - How many rotten boroughs lost both and one MP?
As well as extending the franchise, the 1832 Act made some improvements to the redistribution of seats – 56 rotten boroughs lost their constituencies entirely (EG Appleby), while a further 30 lost one of their two MPs (EG St Ives)
The Representation of the People Act 1832 - How many constituencies created with two and one MP?
In place of these reductions, 22 new constituencies were created with two MPs each (EG Manchester, Stockport and Leeds), as well as 20 with one MP each (EG Rochdale and Wakefield) in areas that had been underrepresented – this went some way to rebalancing the redistribution of seats
The Representation of the People Act 1832 - What was the result of the new boundaries in terms of the number of constituencies that held elections?
- Due to new boundaries, more constituencies had contested elections
- Pre 1832, number of constituencies that held elections was never above 40% with the rest appointing their usual representative, or giving each party one representative
- In the 1832 general election, 74% of constituencies held elections for the first time rather than appointing, though it fell back to average 60% until 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867 - What happened under this Act to redistribution and why?
Under the 1867 Act, further constituency reorganisation occurred – it is of note that this was not directly for progress but to retain Con dominance in the affected areas
The Representation of the People Act 1867 - How many boroughs lost one and both of their MPs?
- 38 boroughs (EG Lichfield) lost one of their two MPs
- 4 borough lost both MPs
The Representation of the People Act 1867 - How many seats given to underrepresented constituencies and counties (and why)?
- 45 seats were given to under-represented constituencies like Burnley and Middlesborough
- 25 seats given to counties to strengthen landed interests
The Representation of the People Act 1867 - When and how many English boroughs lost their seats and why?
The year after, 7 English boroughs also lost their seats to create new Scottish boroughs in under-represented areas
The Representation of the People Act 1867 - What was the situation with political representation after 1867 and what were the two reasons it was still imbalanced?
- By 1867 political representation was more balanced, but still uneven for two main reasons:
- The constituencies were still not balanced in size
- The hustings were still open to landowners influence and corruption