Theme 1 Flashcards
How did the 1832 Great Reform Act extend the franchise?
Boroughs required men to own or occupy a residence of £10
What impact did 1832 have on the franchise?
Increased electorate from 4% of adult males to 20%
How did the 1832 Great Reform Act change representation (borough and counties)?
- 56 rotten boroughs removed
- 22 new two member boroughs
What pressure from above lead to the 1832 Reform Act?
Whigs and Political expediency (practicality) - Whigs saw county seats and rotten boroughs as benefitting Tories so wanted to remove them
What pressure from below lead to the 1832 Reform Act?
- Swing movement 1830 - rising rural discontent to poverty & use of threshing machines
- Widespread riots - after Lords rejected 2nd bill in October 1831 there were riots in Nottingham, Derby and Bristol
What were the impacts of the 1832 Reform Act on the make up of parliament?
- Property qualification of £600 (county) and £300 (borough) meant that landed and their interests dominated parliament
- Aristocratic government
What were the impacts of the 1832 Reform Act on equal constituency representation?
London and other cities were widely under represented
How did the 1867 Reform Act extend the franchise?
Boroughs
- Any adult male who owned or occupied a house for 12 months
Counties
- Men owning or leasing land over £5
How did the 1867 Reform Act change representation ?
- 45 seats taken from boroughs with less than 10,000 peoples
- Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester got third MPs
Evidence of pressure from above for the Second Reform Acts
- Liberals wanted to reform boroughs where their power was strongest
- Conservatives felt that the GRA had favoured boroughs where they were less powerful, but when they gain power but are in a minority of 70 MPs
Evidence of pressure from below for the Second Reform Acts
- Very little compared to that of 1832
- Population was 5 million higher but representation to industrial areas hadn’t occurred
- Economy began to dramatically decline in 1866 leading to collapse of banks and then companies, crops failed, meat prices shot up, cotton famine in the North
What were the impacts of the 1867 Reform Act on the franchise?
- 1 in 3 men could vote
- Those on poor relief still couldn’t vote
What were the impacts of the 1867 Reform Act on the make up of parliament?
- Less than 1/4 came from industrial or commercial backgrounds in 1874
- More contested seats
What were the impacts of the 1867 Reform Act on equal constituency representation?
- Overrepresentation still occurred in south
What did the Third Reform Act in 1884 do?
Household suffrage and lodger franchise was extended to the counties
What pressure from above was there to pass the 1884 Reform Act?
Gladstone wanted to restore his decreasing popularity
What pressure from below was there to pass the 1884 Reform Act?
There was none
What did the 1884 Reform Act do for the franchise?
- 2/3 of adult males could vote
- Plural voting still carried on
- Those on poor relief, living in employers residence or had no permanent residence were still disenfranchised
What did the 1884 Reform Act do to the make up of Parliament?
The redistribution of rural seats means that the influence of the landed decreased drastically
What were the impacts of the 1885 Reform Act on equal constituency representation?
- 150 seats redistributed to more densely populated areas
- Nearly all constituencies were single member and similar in population size
What did the Representation of the People Act of 1918 do?
- Women over the age of 30 could vote if they or their husband owned homes or rented property over £5 per annum
- Men over the age of 21 could vote if they had been a resident for 6 months
What pressure from above was there for the Representation of the People Act?
- Lloyd George as PM was supportive of votes as were new MPS
- Asquith was gradually more supportive if women suffrage after the end of the Suffragette movement
What were the impacts of the Representation of the People Act on the franchise?
- The number of voters was raised from 7.7 million to 21.4 million - most significant extension
What were the impacts of the Representation of the People Act on the make up of parliament
- Lead to separate act allowing women over 30 to become MPs
- Significant boost for Labour Party - enfranchisement lead to working class male vote
