Reform of Parliament

Question 1

What are the 8 main Reform Acts?

Answer 1

1832 Reform Act,
1867 Reform Act,
1872 Ballot Act,
1883 Corrupt Practises Act,
1884 Reform Act,
1885 Redistribution Act,
1918 Representation of the People Act,
1928 Representation of the People Act.

Question 2

What was the 1832 Reform Act?

Answer 2

Counties:
£50 short leaseholders got the vote
40/- freeholders kept the vote
£10 long leaseholders got the vote
Electorate increased from 240,000 to 370,000.
Boroughs:
Adult males owning or occupying property worth £10 a year in rent.
Electorate increased from 200,000 to 280,000.

Question 3

What was the 1867 Reform Act?

Answer 3

Counties:
£5 leaseholders
40/- freeholders kept the vote
Landowners whose land had a rentable value of £12 a year
Electorate increased from 540,000 to 800,000.
Boroughs:
Adult males who lived in a property for 12 months
Electorate increased from 510,000 to 1,200,000.

Question 4

What was the 1872 Ballot Act?

Answer 4

Introduced a secret ballot.

Question 5

What was the 1883 Corrupt Practises Act?

Answer 5

Strict limits on expenses, £710 for first 2000 voters and then £40 for each additional 1000 voters.
Each candidate limited to one party agent.
Expenses of candidates published.
Heavy fines and imprisonment if rules broken.

Question 6

What was the 1884 Reform Act?

Answer 6

Single national qualification for all £10 male householders and lodgers.
Electorate increased by 2.5 million-60% of men could vote now.

Question 7

What was the 1885 Redistribution Act?

Answer 7

All boroughs with a population of 15,000 lost their MP and merged with another borough.
Existing boroughs with a population between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one MP out of two-affected 36 boroughs.
Existing boroughs with a population of more than 50,000 continued to be individual two-member constituencies.

Question 8

What was the 1918 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 8

All men over the age of 21 could vote.
Women over the age of 30 who were householders or wives of householders worth £5 per annum could vote.
Electorate increased from 7,000,000 to 21,000,000.

Question 9

What was the 1928 Representation of the People Act?

Answer 9

All women over the age of 21 could vote.
14.5 million women could vote and 12.25 million men could vote.