Reform Acts c1780-1928 Flashcards
When was the Great Reform Act?
1832
What was the content of the GRA regarding franchise?
Boroughs
-adult males owning or occupying property worth £10 in rent (resident for 1 year and pay poor rates)
Counties
-adult males owning property worth £2 pa (same as before) or rent land worth £50 pa (Tory amendment-Chandos Clause) could now vote
What was the content of the GRA regarding representation?
- 56 rotten/pocket boroughs removed
- 145 borough seats abolished
- 22 new member boroughs created (14 London)
- 64 new county seats created so more populous counties gained more seats
Why was the GRA passed (above)?
-Collapse of Tories (Catholic E. and p. reform)
led to King W IV inviting Grey (Whig) to form ministry
- Actions of Grey-persuades King to call election for majority following fail of 1st bill 1831, resigns 1832 May as K refused to ensure bill passed Lords
- Whigs and p. expediency-in opposition since 1807-rotten boroughs benefitted Tories-also consider Greys aim of reforming to preserve aristocratic gov
Why was the GRA passed (below)?
- Long term factors-(French Rev, politicisation of people in towns due to Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register)
- Swing Movement 1830-(rising rural discontent to poverty and use of threshing machines)
- Atwood’s Political Unions-(mediate success of O’Con and unite m/c to skilled w/c, 100,000 attending BPU meetings, despite different PU aims did fuel P reform support-allow m/c to engage politically and demonstrate power of legal protest-fear of rev)
- Days of May 1832-(PUs met in London after Grey’s resignation and Wellington’s ministry, Rothschild warned only recalling Grey would stop economic collapse)
- popular pressure less dominant than often assume-popular was in support of gov-not v radical, agitation used by Whigs to pressure King
- main features of bill settled well before popular pressure reached peak
What was the impact of the GRA on the franchise?
- rise of approx 60% of electorate
- 1/5 of all adult males had the vote
- most m/c and some skilled craftsmen had the vote (mostly shop keepers)
- new electors did not want further reform-successful in detaching from w/c as new electors were property owners and more interested in gaining privileges than further reform
- £10 borough franchise did not lead to w/c vote-majority still excluded
- Grey succeeded in aim of preserving aristocratic gov -all PMs except Peel from HoL
- newly enfranchised £50 tenant framers expected to support dominant landowners as voting done in open
What was the impact of the GRA on representation?
-uniform borough franchise replaced variety of confusing franchises (potwaller/compound)
- still differences between borough and county voting qualifications
- industrial North still under-represented as well as large industrial towns
- rural South and small country towns over-represented
-new seats reflected economic interests rather than population size
Why was the CPA passed (below)?
desire for respectability
Why was the Property Qualification Act passed?
Catalyst for reform was imprisonment of Edward Glover MP sentenced to 4 months for failing to meet property qualifications-both judge and press showed him sympathy as his property was heavily mortgage
When was the Redistribution Act?
1885
What was the content of the SRA regarding franchise?
Boroughs
- men could vote if owned or occupied house for 1 year (household franchise)
- men who paid £10/year in rent and lived there for over 12 months
Counties
- men owning or leasing land worth £5/year
- men occupying land with rateable value of £12/year and paid poor rates
What was the content of the SRA regarding representation?
- 45 seats taken from boroughs with pop <10,000
- 7 seats taken from towns disenfranchised for corruption
-25 seats given to counties-Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool & Manchester get 3rd MP
Why was the SRA passed (above)?
- Palmerston’s death 1865
- Liberals & p. expediency-(wish to reform boroughs-appeal is strongest/Bright support/initial reform bill raises expectations even when Libs fall from power)
- Cons conversion-(party split 1846, Derby and Disraeli held office briefly 1850s-no longer prepared to govern at pleasure of p opponents)
- Cons & p. expediency-(believed boroughs to be over-rep, 1832 favoured b where con vote weakest/when gain power minority of 70-so need to keep opposition divided
- poor reception to cons initial proposal cause Disraeli to bring forward bill (only 14 days for bill)/ insufficient planning, confusing, weakness of minority gov & ensure no amendments accepted to Glads
Why was the SRA passed (below)?
- Population Growth-(1832–>1867 +5m)-yet no franchise extension only 1/5 had vote, no further redistribution for growing areas-many workers supported N in US civil war-impressed Gladstone
- Radicalism-Bright speaking tours, national organisations emerged-Reform Union-demand household suffrage, Reform League-demand uni male suff-TU & skilled w/c-sustain pressure through anti-suffrage speeches of Adullamite Lowe
- Hyde Park-Reform League demonstration 1866-violent/huge crowd/collapse railings/army support/long term sig?
- Economy-declined massively 1866/banks collapse/bad harvest/food prices rise/disease/cotton famine-due to US civil war
What was the impact of the SRA on franchise?
- bigger increase than 1832
- 1/3 adult males had vote
- bigger electorate in n. towns/ cities eg Leeds-many were w/c
- 85% adult pop had no vote (men without 1 year residence, lodgers paying rent below £10, those on poor relief and women!)
- county electorate grows by 46% and mostly m/c-most labourers still excluded
- urban liberal voters prevented from voting in county elections by boundary changes-lodgers struggle to get on electorate
What was the the impact SRA on representation?
-over rep continued eg SW Eng had 45 MPs whilst NE had 32 despite having x3 pop
- 25 seats given to counties to strengthen landed interest
- focus on retaining Cons dominance in affected areas-gave more seats to counties which tended to vote Tory
What was the impact of RA on representation?
Redistribution-London MPs increased 22-59
- North still under represented
- Ireland over-represented-Ire Nationalists held balance of power in 1885, 1892 and 1910
Why was the SBA passed (above)?
- Radicals–felt it would give voters greater freedom and increase radical share of vote
- Bright campaigned for secret voting since 1840 & this was his price for continuing to serve in Gladstone’s cabinet
- Libs–commitments to electoral reform-this proposal was originally included in 1832-G felt compelled to accept policy ideas from radicals in order to keep his coalition together
Why was the SBA passed (below)?
-Conduct of 1868 election-widespread violence, corruption and intimidation were widely reported in media- little evidence that popular pressure helped secure this measure
What was the impact of the SBA on franchise and representation?
- short term-voters could still be bought and ‘treating’ of voters remained commonplace until 1883
- in many areas voters chose to overlook the secrecy of ballot in deference to their landlords
- act did not instantly lead to a reduction of employers influence over workers in urban areas
Why was the CPA passed (above)?
- SBA 1872 had not stopped bribery and corruption-increase in electorate since 1867 meant more people to bribe
- Cost of elections deterred w/c and m/c from standing
- Libs concerned this would mean P would be continued to be dominated by ‘idle landowners’
What was the content of the RPA?
- women over 30 win vote (if resident for 6 months)
- men over 21 win vote (if resident for 6 months)
- redistribution-70,000 pop as key unit for 1 member constituency
Why was the RPA introduced (above)?
- Lloyd George (PM)-supportive of female suffrage as were new MPs and cabinet members
- Asquith-opens Commons debate praising war work of women and the absence of violence meant Parliament could now seriously consider female suffrage issue
Why was the RPA introduced (below)?
- Women and WW1-war efforts of women won much praise especially ‘canaries’-munitions workers (although these women did not benefit from Act)
- Suffrage Activity-campaign for 50+ years, militancy during war stopped (maybe gov did not want it to return 1918), Suffragettes recruited women for war work and active in Red Cross
- Political Activism-of workers during war (Red Clydeside) increased fears of industrial rev after war and explains why franchise extension was considered-fears of returning ex-servicemen could turn against politicians who failed to enfranchise them
- Act received little attention due to initiatives of politicians
What was the impact of the RPA on franchise?
- all adult men and women 30+ receive vote- no. of voters raised from 7.7m 1910-21.4m 1918-most significant enlargement
- separate act gave women over 30 right to run as MP
- plural voting remains (30,000 people max 2 vote)-concession to Cons for supporting act
- complex registration meant 5-7% of adult males were unregistered and therefore could not vote
What was the impact of the RPA representation?
- majority of constituencies were single member seats of roughly equal size
- created more suburban m/c who tended to vote Cons
- boosted number of seats in coal-mining constituencies which tended to vote Labour solidly
When was the Second Reform Act introduced?
1867
When was the Property Qualifications for MPs introduced?
1858
When was the Secret Ballot Act passed and what did it do?
1872
introduced secret ballot
What was the impact of the CPA?
Effective-petitions protesting illegal practices dropped
Spending on elections reduced significantly as partiesnow relied on volunteers
What was the key content of the CPA?
Set a limit on spending and prohibited bribery and treating
Expenditure had to be accounted for and introduced penalties-fines/imprisonment of HoC expulsion if not followed
When was the Third Reform Act introduced?
1884
What was the content of the TRA?
Franchise given to all house holders in counties and lodgers who paid £10 rent
Why was the TRA passed (above)?
- Gladstone keen to restore his waning popularity and satisfy radical critics
- Hartington-(Whig) prioritises Redistribution Bill to counter effects of any franchise extension
- Chamberlain-(Radical)-needed radical measure to restore his cred-hoped electoral reform provide supporters in counties for radical reforms-improve lives
- Salisbury (Cons leader)-f ext could benefit party-especially suburbs/might split Liberals/S drops opposition to G proposal
Why was the TRA passed (below)?
-No significant popular demand for p reform existed 1884
What was the impact of the TRA on franchise?
- Biggest increase in electorate so far +2.5m
- included agricultural labourers and miners who lived within county franchise
- over 2/3 adult men qualified to vote
- majority of electorate w/c
- plural voting continued-7% pop vote in more than 1 constituency
- women still no vote-60% adult population
- complex registration and residential qualification disenfranchised many working men
- domestic servants resident with employers, adults living with parents, soldiers, many on poor relief, those without residence could not vote
When was the Redistribution Act passed?
1885
What was the content of the RA?
- Boroughs with pop below 15,000 lose their MP, pop below 50,000 lose 1 MP
- 150 seats redistributed to more densely populated counties eg Yorkshire
- nearly all constituencies single-member and in similar pop size
Why was the RA passed (above)?
- Salisbury influenced redrawing of constituency boundaries-many new distinctly suburban constituencies were created out of big towns/cities-‘Villa Toryism’
- Arlington Street Compact was S price for Cons supporting Libs
Why was the RA passed (below)?
-No significant popular demand for parliamentary redistribution existed 1885
When was the Equal Franchise Act passed and what did it allow?
1928
Women over 21 to vote in general elections
What was the effect of the EFA on franchise?
5m new voters added to electoral reg
women now majority of the electorate
