Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that body's existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707 This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that body's existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707 This is a list of Ordinances and Acts of the Parliament of England from 1642 to 1660, during the English Civil War and the Interregnum. This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that body's existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707 This is a list of Acts of Parliament of the English Parliament during that body's existence prior to the Act of Union of 1707 List of Acts of the Scottish Parliament to 1707 is a list of Acts of Parliament of the Parliament of Scotland. This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland for the years up to 1700. This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland for the years 1701 to 1800. This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1707-1719 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1720-1739 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1740-1759 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1760-1779 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1780-1800 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1801-1819 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1820-1839 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1840-1859 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1860-1879 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1880-1899 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1900-1919 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1920-1939 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1940-1959 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1960-1979 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1980-1999 This is a list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 2000 to the present "Acts of the Scottish Parliament" redirects here For pre-Union acts see List of Acts of the Scottish Parliament to 1707. This is a list of Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, from its first session in 1921 to suspension in 1972. This is a list of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly passed by that body from its establishment in 2000 until its suspension in 2002 and from its re-establishment in |align=left| Contemporary Welsh Law English Law Courts of England and Wales ---- National Assembly The is a list of Orders in Council for Northern Ireland which are Primary legislation for the province when it is being directly ruled from London and also for A Statutory Instrument ( SI) is the principal form in which delegated or Secondary legislation is made in Great Britain. , c. 23) was a piece of British electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons again in an attempt to equalize representation across the UK. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Electoral reform is change in Electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords It was associated with, but not part of, the Reform Act 1884. In the United Kingdom, the Representation of the People Act of 1884 (48 & 49 Vict

The Act made the following changes:

Seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP;
Thirty-six towns with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies;
Towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats;
Larger towns and the county constituencies were divided into single member constituencies

As support of the Irish members was needed by both major parties, the representation of Ireland in Parliament was not reduced, even though it had suffered a relative loss of population compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, due to emigration and famine. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

1 Background
2 Key provisions
3 Consequences
4 See also

Background

Faced with the prospect of a Liberal Bill extending the vote in the counties, Lord Salisbury, the Conservative leader, had agreed to the Bill in order to preserve the old order of the aristocracy and the church and in particular, their roles in government and the House of Lords. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party "Lord Salisbury" redirects here For other holders of the title see Marquess of Salisbury. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Reform seemed inevitable and he wanted to have a say and gain as much advantage for the Conservatives as possible in seat redistribution, so agreed to the 1884 Act on the condition that urban constituencies could be drawn up along class lines, so that the Conservatives would win middle class seats.

Key provisions

In total, 160 seats were redistributed and in England and Wales, 79 boroughs of less than 15,000 inhabitants lost one seat each. London increased its number of seats from 22 to 62 and most constituencies became single member, to the benefit of the Conservatives in the towns.

Consequences

Old historic communities were broken up when new single-member constituencies were created and the redistribution finally ended the under-representation of London and the industrial north and the predominance of the rural south. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The division of formerly two member constituencies had important political consequences. It hastened the decline of the aristocracy and the landed class domination of Parliament – however the aristocracy continued to dominate the Cabinet and the political power of the landed classes was evident in the power of the Lords to veto legislation until 1911. After 1885, for the first time, the number of Members of Parliament connected to industry and commerce outnumbered the number connected to the gentry – a trend accelerated by the agricultural depression of 1870s into the 20th Century. Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament.

There was a growing radicalisation of parties. In the Liberal party, in two member constituencies a Whig had been paired with a Radical, but with only one MP to be returned the Whigs lost out as the Radicals gained support from the new rural voters. The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Joseph Chamberlain, encouraged by the growing radicalisation of the Liberals, mounted his assault on the Whigs firmly entrenched in power with his 'Unauthorised Programme' of 1885 or proposed radical reforms (although Gladstone was able to ignore it). Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman The expansion of the working class electorate meant that the number of 'Lib/Lab' MPs rose from 2 in 1874 to 13 in 1885. "Lib-Lab(s" redirects here See Lib-Lab pact for UK Liberal Party-Labour Party agreements and LibLab for the Norwegian think-tank

There was also a Conservative resurgence, as they gained massively from the constitutional changes they had helped to engineer. The majority of the 132 seats taken from small boroughs to be redistributed had been Liberal and in many of the new single member constituencies, particularly the suburban ones, the Conservatives were triumphant – the electorate were discouraged by Chamberlain’s radicalism and not appeased by Gladstone’s Home Rule crusade. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government The Liberals won the 1885 General Election, but the Conservatives dominated the final years of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, which owed much to Lord Salisbury’s shrewdness in 1885. Results |} Total votes cast 4638235 All parties shown Voting summary Seats summary See also

Contents

Background

Key provisions

Consequences

See also