The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom. 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. An Act of Parliament is a Law enacted as Primary legislation by a national or sub-national Parliament. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 According to its preamble, the act was designed to "take effectual Measures for correcting diverse Abuses that have long prevailed in the Choice of Members to serve in the Commons House of Parliament. 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 "

Calls for reform had been mooted long before 1832, but perennially without success. The Act which finally succeeded was proposed by the Whigs led by the Prime Minister Lord Grey. 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 The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC (13 March 1764 &ndash 17 July 1845 known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807 was a British It met with significant opposition from the Tories, especially in the House of Lords. The Tories were any of a series of Political factions that existed in the Kingdom of Great Britain and later the United Kingdom, having its roots in the The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" Nevertheless, as a result of public pressure, the bill eventually passed. The Act granted seats in the House of Commons to large cities that sprang up during the Industrial Revolution, and took away seats from the "rotten boroughs"—those with very small populations. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The term "rotten" or "decayed" borough referred to a parliamentary borough or Constituency in Great Britain and Ireland The Act also increased the number of individuals entitled to vote, increasing the size of electorate by 50–80%, and allowing a total of 653,000 adult males (around one in five) to vote, in a population of some 14 million. Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally The Act also specifically disenfranchised women, sparking the British suffrage movement. Disenfranchisement or disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of Suffrage (the right to vote to a person or group of people or rendering a person's vote ^[1]

The full title is An Act to amend the representation of the people in England and Wales. Its formal short title and citation are Representation of the People Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 45). The Act only applied in England and Wales; separate reform bills were passed in the same year for Scotland and Ireland. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Scottish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The Irish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Ireland. Other reform measures were passed later during the 19th century; as a result, the Reform Act 1832 is sometimes called the First Reform Act, or the Great Reform Act.

The unreformed House of Commons

Main article: Unreformed House of Commons

Composition

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act of 1832. A lower house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Upper house.

The unreformed House of Commons was composed of 658 members, of whom 513 represented England and Wales. There were two types of constituencies: counties and boroughs. County members were supposed to represent landholders, while borough members were supposed to represent the mercantile and trading interests of the kingdom. ^[2] Counties were historical national subdivisions established between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. They were not merely parliamentary constituencies; many components of the government (including courts and the militia) were organized along county lines. A court is a forum used by a power base to adjudicate disputes and dispense civil, labour administrative and criminal Justice under its The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service ^[3] The members of Parliament chosen by the counties were known as Knights of the Shire. In English and Welsh politics from Mediaeval times until the Representation of the People Act 1884, Knights of the Shire were representatives of counties In England, each county elected two members of Parliament; in Wales, only one.

Boroughs were towns or cities that had been granted representation in Parliament by royal charter. A Royal Charter is a Charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy council to legitimize an incorporated body such as a city company Theoretically, the honour of electing members of Parliament belonged to the wealthiest and most flourishing towns in the kingdom. Boroughs that ceased to be successful could be disenfranchised by the Crown. ^[4] In practice, however, many tiny hamlets became boroughs, especially between the reigns of Henry VIII and Charles II. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Likewise, boroughs that had flourished during the Middle Ages, but had since fallen into decay, were allowed to continue sending representatives to Parliament. The royal prerogative of enfranchising and disfranchising boroughs fell into disuse after the reign of Charles II; as a result, these historical anomalies became set in stone. ^[5] Most boroughs in England elected two members of Parliament each. (Some elected only one, but the City of London and Weymouth and Melcombe Regis elected four. For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a Borough in England. It was formed by a charter of Elizabeth I, amalgamating the towns of Weymouth and ) Each of the Welsh boroughs returned one member.

The franchise

Statutes passed in 1430 and 1432, during the reign of Henry VI, standardised property qualifications for county voters. Henry VI (6 December 1421 &ndash 21 May 1471 was King of England 1422–1461 (though with a Regent until 1437 and then 1470–1471 and a claimant to the kingdom Under these acts, all (male) owners of freehold property or land worth at least forty shillings in a particular county were entitled to vote in that county. Fee simple is an estate in land in Common law. It is the most common way Real estate is owned in common law countries and is ordinarily the most This requirement, known as the forty shilling freehold, was never adjusted for inflation; thus, the amount of land that it was necessary for one to own in order to vote was gradually diminished over time. Forty shilling freeholders were a group of (mostly landowners who had the Parliamentary franchise to vote in County constituencies in various parts of the British Isles In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time ^[6] Nevertheless, the vast majority of individuals were unable to vote; the size of the English county electorate in 1831 has been estimated at only 200,000. ^[7] Furthermore, the sizes of the individual county constituencies varied significantly. The smallest counties, Rutland and Anglesey, had fewer than a thousand voters each, while the largest county, Yorkshire, had more than twenty thousand. Rutland is a county of mainland England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire, and southeast by History There are numerous Megalithic monuments and Menhirs present on Anglesey testifying to the presence of mankind in prehistory Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. ^[8] Those who owned property in multiple constituencies could vote multiple times; there was normally no requirement for an individual to actually inhabit a constituency in order to vote there. Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an Election.

In the boroughs, qualifications were much more varied. In some cases, the right to vote belonged to all male resident householders not receiving poor relief. In others, the payment of scot and lot, a form of municipal taxation, or property ownership constituted the chief criterion. Scot and lot (0 Fr escot, AS sceot, a payment lot a portion or share is a phrase common in the records of English medieval Boroughs applied Several boroughs used a system of indirect election, under which members of Parliament were selected by the municipal corporation, instead of the people. A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to cities, counties, Towns Others employed various combinations of the aforementioned qualifications, often subject to special rules and exceptions. ^[9] The largest borough, Westminster, included approximately twelve thousand voters, while the smallest constituencies or "rotten" boroughs included fewer than a hundred each. Westminster was a former parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707 the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of ^[10] The most famous rotten borough was Old Sarum, whose electorate in 1800 amounted to only eleven voters (all of whom were landowners who resided elsewhere). Old Sarum was the most infamous of the so-called ' Rotten boroughs, a UK parliament constituency which was effectively controlled by a single person until it ^[11] Other examples include Dunwich (thirty-two voters), Camelford (twenty-five), and Gatton (seven). Dunwich was a Parliamentary borough in Suffolk, one of the most notorious of all the Rotten boroughs It elected two Members of Parliament Camelford was a Rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and Gatton was a Parliamentary borough in Surrey, one of the most notorious of all the Rotten boroughs It elected two Members of Parliament ^[12]

Women's suffrage

The claim for the women's vote appears to have been first made by William Thompson in 1825, when he published, with Anna Wheeler, An Appeal of One Half the Human Race, Women, Against the Pretensions of the Other Half, Men, to Retain Them in Political, and Thence in Civil and Domestic Slavery: In Reply to Mr. William Thompson (1775 &ndash 28 March 1833 Rosscarbery, Co Cork was an Irish political and philosophical Writer and Anna Doyle Wheeler was born in 1785 the daughter of a Prebendary from Fennor Parish. Mill's Celebrated Article on Government. ^[13] In the "celebrated article on Government," James Mill had stated:

The passing of the Bill seven years later enfranchising "male persons" was a more significant event however; it was the inclusion of the word "male," thus providing the first statutory bar to women voting, which provided a focus of attack and a source of resentment from which, in time, the women's suffrage movement grew. ^[15]

The rejection of the claims of certain women to be placed on the electoral roll was subsequently confirmed, in spite of the Interpretation Act 1850 which specified that the masculine gender should include the feminine unless otherwise provided, in Chorlton v. The Interpretation Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict 21 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in 1850 that simplified the language that was used in Lings [1868] 4CP 374. In the case of Regina v. Harrald [1872] 7QB 361 it was ruled that married women, otherwise qualified, could not vote in municipal elections. This decision made it clear that married women would be excluded from the operation of any Act enfranchising women for the parliamentary vote, unless special provision to the contrary was made.

Corruption

William Hogarth's Canvassing for Votes depicts the corruption endemic in election campaigns prior to the Great Reform Act. William Hogarth (10 November 1697 &ndash 26 October 1764 was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic

A large number of House of Commons constituencies, especially those with small electorates, were under the control of rich landowners. These constituencies were known as nomination boroughs or pocket boroughs, because they were said to be in the pockets of their patrons. Most patrons were members of the nobility or the landed gentry who could use their local influence, prestige, and wealth to sway the voters. This was particularly true in rural counties, and in small boroughs situated near a large landed estate. Some noblemen even controlled multiple constituencies; for example, the Duke of Norfolk possessed eleven, while the Earl of Lonsdale owned nine. Charles Howard 11th Duke of Norfolk ( 15 March 1746 – 16 December 1815) was born on 15 March 1746, the son of Charles Sir James Lowther 1st Earl of Lonsdale ( August 5 1736 &ndash May 24 1802) was the son of Robert Lowther and Catherine Pennington ^[16] Writing in 1821, Sydney Smith proclaimed that "The country belongs to the Duke of Rutland, Lord Lonsdale, the Duke of Newcastle, and about twenty other holders of boroughs. This article is about the English writer Sydney Smith Sydney Smith ( June 3, 1771, Woodford, Essex England – They are our masters!"^[17] Dr T. H. B. Oldfield claimed in his Representative History of Great Britain and Ireland that, out of the 514 members representing England and Wales, about 370 were selected by nearly 180 patrons. ^[18] A member who represented a pocket borough was expected to vote as his patron ordered, lest he lose his seat at the next election.

Voters in some constituencies were independent enough to resist domination by powerful landlords. However, they were, in many cases, still open to corruption. Electors were bribed individually in some boroughs, and collectively in others. In 1771, for example, it was revealed that eighty-one voters in New Shoreham (who constituted a majority of the electorate) formed a corrupt organization that called itself the "Christian Club," and regularly sold the borough to the highest bidder. New Shoreham, sometimes simply called Shoreham, was a Parliamentary borough centred on the town of Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. ^[19] Especially notorious for their corruption were the "nabobs," or individuals who had amassed fortunes in the British colonies in Asia and the West Indies. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting The nabobs, in some cases, even managed to wrest control of boroughs from the nobility and the gentry. ^[20] Lord Chatham, Prime Minister of Great Britain during the 1760s, once commented that "the importers of foreign gold have forced their way into Parliament, by such a torrent of corruption as no private hereditary fortune could resist. William Pitt 1st Earl of Chatham PC (15 November 1708 &ndash 11 May 1778 was a British Whig Statesman who achieved his greatest fame as "^[21]

Movement for reform

Early attempts at reform

William Pitt the Younger was a prominent advocate of parliamentary reform.

During the 1640s, England endured a civil war that pitted King Charles I and the Royalists against the Parliamentarians. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War ( 1642 &ndash 1651 " Roundheads " was the Nickname given to the Puritan supporters of Parliament during the English Civil War. In 1647, different factions of the victorious parliamentary army held a series of discussions, the Putney Debates, on reforming the structure of English government. The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army and the Levellers, concerning the makeup of a new Constitution for The most radical elements proposed universal manhood suffrage and the reorganization of parliamentary constituencies. Their leader Thomas Rainsborough declared, "I think it's clear, that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government. Thomas Rainsborough ( 1610 - 30 October 1648) or Rainborough or Rainborowe or Rainbow, was a leading figure in the " More conservative members disagreed, arguing instead that only individuals who owned land in the country should be allowed to vote. For example, Henry Ireton stated, "no man hath a right to an interest or share in the disposing of the affairs of the kingdom . Henry Ireton ( 1611 - November 26, 1651) was an English general in the army of Parliament during the English Civil War . . that hath not a permanent fixed interest in this kingdom. " The views of the conservative "Grandees" eventually won out. Oliver Cromwell, who became the leader of England after the abolition of the monarchy in 1649, refused to adopt universal suffrage; individuals were required to own property (real or personal) worth at least £200 in order to vote. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known He did nonetheless agree to some electoral reform; he disfranchised several small boroughs, granted representation to large towns such as Manchester and Leeds, and increased the number of members elected by populous counties. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England These reforms were all reversed, and the original system of representation reinstated, when the English monarchy was restored in 1660. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored

Following Restoration, the issue of parliamentary reform lay dormant until it was revived in the 1760s by the Whig Prime Minister William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder"), who called borough representation "the rotten part of our constitution" (hence the term "rotten borough"). William Pitt 1st Earl of Chatham PC (15 November 1708 &ndash 11 May 1778 was a British Whig Statesman who achieved his greatest fame as Nevertheless, he did not advocate an immediate disfranchisement of rotten boroughs. He instead proposed that a third member be added to each county, to countervail the borough influence. The Whigs failed to unite behind the expansion of county representation; some objected to the idea because they felt that it would give too much power to the aristocracy and gentry in rural areas. ^[22] Ultimately, despite Chatham's exertions, Parliament took no action on his proposals. The cause of parliamentary reform was next taken up by Lord Chatham's son, William Pitt the Younger (variously described as a Tory and as an "independent Whig"). William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 &ndash 23 January 1806 was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Like his father, he shrank from proposing the wholesale abolition of the rotten boroughs, advocating instead an increase in county representation. The House of Commons rejected Pitt's resolution by over 140 votes, despite receiving petitions for reform bearing over twenty thousand signatures. ^[23] In 1783, Pitt became Prime Minister but was still unable to achieve reform. King George III was averse to the idea, as were many members of Pitt's own cabinet. George III (George William Frederick 4 June 1738 George III's long reign was marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdom much of the rest of Europe and places In 1786, the Prime Minister proposed a reform bill, but the House of Commons rejected it on a 174-248 vote. ^[24] Pitt did not raise the issue again for the remainder of his term.

Aftermath of the French Revolution

Support for parliamentary reform plummeted after the launch of the French Revolution in 1789. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Reacting to the perceived excesses of the revolution, English politicians became steadfastly opposed to any major political change. Despite this reaction, several groups that agitated for reform were established. A group of Whigs led by James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale and Charles Grey founded an organization to advocate for parliamentary reform in 1792. James Maitland 8th Earl of Lauderdale KT PC ( January 26 1759 - September 10 1839) was a Representative peer Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC (13 March 1764 &ndash 17 July 1845 known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807 was a British This group, known as the Society of the Friends of the People, included twenty-eight members of Parliament. The Society of the Friends of the People (full title The Society of the Friends of the People Associated for the Purpose of Obtaining a Parliamentary Reform) was formed in ^[25] In 1793, Grey presented to the House of Commons a petition from the Friends of the People, outlining abuses of the system and demanding change. He did not propose any specific scheme of reform, but merely a motion that the House inquire into possible improvements. Parliament's reaction to the French Revolution was so negative, that even this request for an inquiry was rejected by a margin of almost 200 votes. Grey made a second attempt to raise the subject in 1797, but the House again rebuffed him by a majority of more than 150. ^[26]

Other notable pro-reform organizations included the Hampden Clubs (named after John Hampden, an English politician who opposed the Crown during the English Civil War) and the London Corresponding Society (which consisted of workers and artisans). John Hampden (c 1595 &ndash 1643 was an English politician the eldest son of William Hampden of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire London Corresponding Society was a moderate-radical body concentrating on reform of the Parliament of Great Britain in the 1790s But the "radical" reforms supported by these organizations (for example, universal suffrage) found even less support in Parliament. For example, when Sir Francis Burdett, chairman of the London Hampden Club, proposed a resolution in favour of universal suffrage, equally sized electoral districts, and voting by secret ballot to the House of Commons, his motion found only one other supporter (Lord Cochrane) in the entire House. Sir Francis Burdett 5th Baronet ( 25 January 1770 &ndash 23 January 1844) was an English Reformist Politician Admiral Lord Sir Thomas Alexander Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquês do Maranhão GCB, RN (14 December ^[27]

Despite such setbacks, popular pressure for reform remained strong. In 1819, a large group of individuals held a pro-reform political rally in Birmingham. Although the city was not formally entitled to any seats in the Commons, those gathered decided to elect Sir Charles Wolseley as Birmingham's "legislatorial representative. " Following their example, reformers in Manchester decided to hold a similar meeting to elect a "legislatorial attorney. " A large number of individuals (between twenty thousand and sixty thousand, according to different estimates) attended the event, many of them bearing signs such as "Equal Representation or Death. " The protesters were ordered to disband; when they failed to do so, armed members of the Manchester Yeomenry suppressed the meeting by force. Eleven people were killed, and several hundred injured, the event later to become known as the Peterloo Massacre. The Peterloo Massacre (or Battle of Peterloo) occurred at St Peter's Field Manchester, England on 16 August 1819 when cavalry charged into In response, the government passed the Six Acts, measures that were designed to quell further political agitation. In the United Kingdom, following the Peterloo Massacre of August 16, 1819, the British government acted to prevent any future disturbances by In particular, the Seditious Meetings Act prohibited groups of more than 50 people from assembling to discuss any political subject without prior permission from the sheriff or magistrate. ^[28]

Reform during the 1820s

Since the House of Commons regularly rejected direct challenges to the system of representation by large majorities, supporters of reform had to content themselves with more modest measures. The Whig Lord John Russell brought forward one such measure in 1820, proposing the disfranchisement of the notoriously corrupt borough of Grampound in Cornwall. John Russell 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC (18 August 1792 &ndash 28 May 1878 known as Lord John Russell before 1861 was an English Grampound in Cornwall, was a Borough constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar He suggested that the borough's two seats be transferred to the city of Leeds. Tories in the House of Lords agreed to the disfranchisement of the borough, but refused to accept the precedent of directly transferring its seats to an industrial city. Instead, they modified the proposal so that two further seats were given to Yorkshire, the county in which Leeds is situated. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. In this form, the bill passed both houses and became law. In 1828, Lord John Russell suggested that Parliament repeat the idea by abolishing the corrupt boroughs of Penryn and East Retford, and by transferring their seats to Manchester and Birmingham. See also Penryn (UK Parliament constituency Penryn (Pennrynn from Pen-ryn meaning 'promontory' is a Town in Cornwall, Retford is a Market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England, located 31 miles from the County town of Nottingham This time, however, the House of Lords rejected his proposals. In 1830, Russell proposed another, similar scheme: the enfranchisement of Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham, and the disfranchisement of the next three boroughs found guilty of corruption; again, the proposal was rejected. ^[29]

Support for reform came from an unexpected source—a faction of the Tory Party—in 1829. The Tory government under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, responding to the danger of civil strife in largely Roman Catholic Ireland, drew up the Catholic Relief Act 1829. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS ( c The Catholic Relief Act 1829 (10 Geo IV c7 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 24 March 1829, and received the Royal Assent This legislation repealed various laws that imposed political disabilities on Roman Catholics, in particular laws that prevented them from becoming members of Parliament. In response, disenchanted Tories who perceived a danger to the established religion came to favour parliamentary reform, in particular the enfranchisement of Manchester, Leeds, and other heavily Protestant cities in northern England. ^[30]

Passage of the Reform Act

First Reform Bill

The Duke of Wellington, who had previously earned fame by leading the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, strongly opposed reform measures. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions

The death of King George IV on 26th June 1830 caused Parliament to be dissolved, and a general election held. Electoral reform, which had been frequently discussed during the preceding parliamentary session, became a major campaign issue. Across the country, several pro-reform "political unions" were formed, made up of both middle and working class individuals. The most influential of these associations was the Birmingham Political Union, led by Thomas Attwood. The Birmingham Political Union was a political organisation in Great Britain during the early nineteenth century Thomas Attwood ( 6 October 1783 &ndash 9 March 1859) was a British Economist and strong campaigner for electoral reform These groups confined themselves to lawful, non-violent means of supporting reform, such as petitioning and public oratory, and achieved a great level of public support. ^[31]

Nonetheless, the Tories won a majority in the election. But the party was divided, and support for the Prime Minister (the Duke of Wellington) was weak. When the Opposition raised the issue of reform during one of the first debates of the year, he made a controversial statement defending the merits of the existing system of government, speaking in the formal "third-party" language of the time:^[32]

The Prime Minister's absolutist views proved extremely unpopular, even within his own party. Less than two weeks after Wellington made the above remarks,^[33] he was forced to resign following an adverse vote in the House of Commons on a confidence motion. A motion of no confidence (also vote of no confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a Parliamentary motion Sydney Smith wrote, "Never was any administration so completely and so suddenly destroyed; and, I believe, entirely by the Duke's declaration, made, I suspect, in perfect ignorance of the state of public feeling and opinion. "^[34] Wellington was replaced by the Whig reformer Charles Grey, who had by this time succeeded to the title of Earl Grey.

Lord Grey's first announcement as Prime Minister was a pledge to carry out parliamentary reform. On 1 March 1831, Lord John Russell brought forward the Reform Bill in the House of Commons on the government's behalf. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1831 ( MDCCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a The bill disfranchised sixty of the smallest boroughs, and reduced the representation of forty-seven others. Some of the seats were completely abolished, while others were redistributed to the London suburbs, to large cities, to the counties, and to Scotland and Ireland. Furthermore, the bill standardized and expanded the borough franchise, increasing the size of the electorate (according to one estimate) by half a million voters. ^[35]

On 22 March, the vote on the second reading attracted 608 members (including the non-voting Speaker), more than any previous division. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Reading is a mechanism by which a bill is introduced to and approved by a Legislature. (The previous record was 530 members. ) Despite such a large attendance, the second reading was approved by only one vote. But further progress for the Reform Bill proved difficult. During the committee stage, Isaac Gascoyne proposed a motion objecting to the provisions of the bill that reduced the total number of seats in the House of Commons. Isaac Gascoyne (about 17631 - 26 August 1841) was a British Tory Politician. The motion was carried, contrary to the government's wishes, by nine votes. Thereafter, the ministry lost a vote on a procedural motion by twenty-two votes. As these divisions indicated that Parliament was in fact adverse to the Reform Bill, the ministry decided to request a dissolution and to take their appeal to the people. ^[36]

Second Reform Bill

The political and popular pressure for reform had grown so great that pro-reform Whigs won an overwhelming House of Commons majority in the general elections of 1831. The Whig party won almost all constituencies with genuine electorates, leaving the Tories with little more than the rotten boroughs. The Reform Bill was again brought before the House of Commons, which agreed to the second reading by a large majority in July. During the committee stage, opponents of the bill slowed its progress through tedious discussions of its details, but it was finally passed in September, by a margin of more than a hundred votes. ^[37]

The bill was then sent up to the House of Lords, a majority of whose members were known to be hostile to it. Due to the decisive verdict of the electorate in favour of the Whigs at the previous election, some speculated that opponents of reform would abstain from voting, instead of openly defying the public will. Indeed, when the House voted on the second reading of bill after a memorable series of debates, a large number of Tory peers refrained from voting. However, the Lords Spiritual mustered in unusually large numbers; of the twenty-two that were present, twenty-one voted against the bill. The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 Clergymen of the established Church of England Consequently, the bill failed by a margin of forty-one votes.

Once the Lords rejected the Reform Bill, public violence ensued. That very evening, riots broke out in Derby, where the mob attacked the city gaol and set several prisoners free. Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. At Nottingham, rioters set fire to Nottingham Castle (the home of the Duke of Newcastle) and attacked Wollaton Hall (the estate of Lord Middleton). Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Castle is a Castle in Nottingham, England. It is located in a commanding position with 130 foot cliffs to the south and west The most significant disturbances occurred at Bristol, where rioters took control for three days. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London The mob broke into prisons and destroyed several buildings, including the palace of the Bishop of Bristol, the mansion of the Lord Mayor of Bristol, and several private homes. The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. Other places that saw violence included Dorset, Leicestershire, and Somerset. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast Leicestershire (ˈlɛstəʃə(r or ˈlɛstəʃɪə(r abbreviation Leics Somerset ( or) is a county in south west England The County town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county ^[38]

In the meantime, the political unions, which had hitherto been separate groups united only by a common goal, decided to band together to form the National Political Union. Perceiving this group as a threat, the government issued a proclamation pursuant to the Corresponding Societies Act 1799 declaring such an association "unconstitutional and illegal," and commanding all loyal subjects to refrain joining it. The leaders of the National Political Union ignored the proclamation, but the leaders of the influential Birmingham branch decided to co-operate with government wishes by discouraging activities on a national level. ^[39]

Third Reform Bill

Lord Grey headed the Whig ministry that ushered the Reform Bill through Parliament.

After the Reform Bill was rejected in the Lords, the House of Commons immediately passed a motion of confidence affirming their support for Lord Grey's administration. A Motion of Confidence is a motion of support proposed by a government in a Parliament or other assembly of elected representatives to give members of parliament (or Because parliamentary rules prohibited the introduction of the same bill twice during the same session, the ministry advised the King to prorogue Parliament. As soon as the new session began in December 1831, the Third Reform Bill was brought forward. The bill was in a few respects different from its predecessors; it no longer proposed a reduction in the total membership of the House of Commons, and it reflected data collected during the census that had just been completed. The new version passed in the House of Commons by even larger majorities in March 1832; it was once again sent up to the House of Lords. ^[40]

Realizing that another rejection would be politically unfeasible, opponents of reform decided to use amendments to change the bill's essential character. Their reliance on this tactic became obvious during the committee stage, when they voted to delay consideration of the clauses of the bill that disfranchised the rotten boroughs. The ministers believed that they were left with only one alternative: to create a large number of new peerages, thereby swamping the House of Lords with pro-reform members. But the prerogative of creating peerages belonged to the King, William IV, who recoiled from taking so harsh a step. William IV (William Henry 21 August 1765 &ndash 20 June 1837 was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until When the King rejected the unanimous advice of the cabinet, Lord Grey resigned, and the Crown called upon the Duke of Wellington to form a new government. ^[41]

The ensuing period, known as the "Days of May," created so great a level of political agitation that some feared revolution. The Days of May, in the history of Great Britain, refers to the period of 9&ndash15 May 1832 Several protesters encouraged a refusal to pay taxes and a run on the banks. They encouraged people to 'Stop the Duke, go for gold'- take money out of the banks and 1½ million in gold was withdrawn from the Bank of England. The National Political Union and other organizations sent petitions to the House of Commons demanding that they withhold supply (cut off funding to the government) until the House of Lords acquiesced. Loss of supply occurs where a government in a Parliamentary democracy using the Westminster System or a system derived from it is denied a supply of treasury or exchequer Some demonstrations called for the abolition of the nobility, and even of the monarchy. ^[42] In these circumstances, the Duke of Wellington had great difficulty in finding support for his premiership, despite promises of moderate reform. He was unable to form a government, leaving King William IV with no choice but to recall Lord Grey to office. At length, the King consented to swamp the House of Lords with Whigs. However, without the knowledge of his ministers, he circulated a letter among the Tory peers, encouraging them to desist from further opposition, and warning them of the consequences of failing to do so. Threatened with such a fate, opposition peers ultimately relented. ^[43] By abstaining from further votes, they allowed the legislation to pass the House of Lords, and prevented the Crown and cabinet from resorting to the creation of new peers. The bill finally received the royal assent on 7 June 1832, thereby becoming law. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1832 ( MDCCCXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian

Results

Provisions

Poster issued by the Sheffield Typographical Society celebrating the passing of the Act.

The Reform Act's chief objective was the reduction of the number of nomination boroughs. Two hundred and three boroughs existed before the act. Of these, fifty-six boroughs, each with a population of less than two thousand, were completely abolished. Thirty two-member boroughs, each with a population of less than four thousand, lost half their representation. Finally, the Act reduced Weymouth and Melcombe Regis' entitlement from four members to two. On the whole, the Act's disfranchising clauses affected 143 seats (one of the abolished boroughs only had a single seat), all in English borough constituencies. Next, the Act increased the number of county members. Twenty-six English counties were divided into two districts, each represented by two members. Eight English counties and three Welsh counties each received an additional representative. Yorkshire, which was represented by four MPs, was given six (two for each riding). A riding is an administrative jurisdiction or electoral district particularly in several current or former Commonwealth countries Twenty-two large towns received the privilege of electing two members each, and twenty-one more received that of electing one. Thus, the Act's enfranchising clauses created 65 county seats and 65 borough seats. The total number of members representing England and Wales fell by thirteen.

The Act enlarged the county electorate, extending the franchise beyond forty-shilling freeholders. Owners of land in copyhold worth £10 received the right to vote, as did holders of long-term leases (more than sixty years) on land worth £10, holders of medium-term leases (between twenty and sixty years) on land worth £50, and tenants-at-will paying an annual rent of £50. At its origin in Medieval England, copyhold tenure was tenure of land according to the custom of the manor the "title deeds" being The Act also standardized the borough franchise, sweeping away almost all of the special customs and rules that prevailed in many constituencies. The only exceptions were the freeman boroughs, in which the right to vote remained restricted to recipients of the "freedom of the borough". Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand Elsewhere, the Act granted the right to vote to all men who owned or leased land worth £10.

The Act also introduced a system of voter registration, to be administered by the overseers of the poor in every parish and township. Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for Citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed In British History, an Overseer of the poor was an official who administered Poor relief such as money food and clothing It instituted a system of special courts to review disputes relating to voter qualifications. It also authorized the use of multiple polling places within the same constituency, and limited the duration of polling to two days. (Formerly, polls could remain open for up to forty days. )

The Reform Act did not affect constituencies in Scotland or Ireland. However, reforms in those parts of the United Kingdom were carried out by the Scottish Reform Act and the Irish Reform Act. The Scottish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The Irish Reform Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Ireland. Scotland received eight additional seats, and Ireland received five. While no constituencies were disfranchised in either of these countries, voter qualifications were standardized and the size of the electorate was expanded in both.

Effects

Although it did disenfranchise several rotten boroughs, the Reform Act did not address all the anomalies in the electoral system. The term "rotten" or "decayed" borough referred to a parliamentary borough or Constituency in Great Britain and Ireland A few small boroughs, such as Totnes in Devon and Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, were spared. Totnes (ˈtɒtnɨs or /tɒtˈnɛs/ is a market town at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a Coastal Town in Norfolk, England. Norfolk (ˈnɔrfək is a low-lying county in East Anglia, England, United Kingdom. However, though nomination boroughs were largely swept away, bribery of the voters remained a problem. As Sir Thomas Erskine May observed, "it was too soon evident, that as more votes had been created, more votes were to be sold. Thomas Erskine May 1st Baron Farnborough ( 8 February 1815 &ndash 17 May 1886) was a British constitutional theorist "^[44] The magnitude of the unreformed electorate is difficult to accurately determine. There was a lack of voter registration, and many boroughs were rarely contested. It is estimated that before the passage of the Act, 400,000 were entitled to vote in 1831, and that after passage, 650,000 Englishmen possessed the franchise, meaning that the Reform Act enlarged the electorate by more than 60%. ^[45] But the vast majority of the population remained voteless.

Most of the pocket boroughs abolished by the Reform Act belonged to the Tory Party. The term "rotten" or "decayed" borough referred to a parliamentary borough or Constituency in Great Britain and Ireland These losses were somewhat offset by extending the right to vote to tenants-at-will paying an annual rent of £50. This clause, proposed by the Tory Marquess of Chandos, was adopted in the House of Commons despite opposition from the Government. Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos KG, GCH, PC ( February 11, 1797 &ndash The tenants-at-will enfranchised by the Chandos clause typically voted in accordance with the wishes of their landlords, who in turn normally supported the Tory party. ^[46] This concession, together with the Whig Party's internal divisions and the difficulties faced by the nation's economy, allowed the Tories under Sir Robert Peel to make gains in the elections of 1835 and 1837, and to retake the House of Commons in 1841. Sir Robert Peel 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 &ndash 2 July 1850 was the Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April

The Reform Act undoubtedly strengthened the House of Commons by reducing the number of nomination boroughs controlled by peers, but the Lords nonetheless remained powerful. Some aristocrats complained that, in the future, the government could compel them to pass a bill, simply by threatening to swamp the upper House by creating new peerages. The Duke of Wellington lamented: "If such projects can be carried into execution by a minister of the Crown with impunity, there is no doubt that the constitution of this House, and of this country, is at an end. [. . . ] [T]here is absolutely an end put to the power and objects of deliberation in this House, and an end to all just and proper means of decision. "^[47] But the subsequent history of Parliament indicates that the influence of the Lords was largely undiminished. They compelled the Commons to accept significant amendments to the Municipal Reform Bill in 1835, forced compromises on Jewish emancipation, and resisted several other bills despite public opinion to the contrary. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm IV c76 - sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act - required members of town councils ( Municipal corporations Freedom for Catholics bodes well for Jews When in 1829 the Roman Catholics of England were freed from all their civil disabilities the hopes of the Jews rose ^[48]

Further reform

During the ensuing years, Parliament adopted several minor electoral reforms. Acts of Parliament passed in 1835 and 1836 increased the number of polling places in each constituency, and reduced polling to a single day. ^[49] Parliament also passed several laws aimed at combatting corruption, including the Corrupt Practices Act 1854, but these measures proved largely ineffectual. Neither party strove for any major reforms; leading statesmen from both the Whig and the Tory parties regarded the Reform Act as a final settlement.

There was considerable public agitation for further expansion of the electorate. In particular, the Chartist movement, which demanded universal manhood suffrage, equally sized electoral districts, and voting by secret ballot, gained widespread following. For chartism in financial markets see Technical analysis, and for the British socialist journal see Chartist (magazine Chartism was But the Tories were united against further reform, and the Liberal Party (successor to the Whigs) did not seek a general revision of the electoral system until 1852. The 1850s saw Lord John Russell introduce a number of reform bills to correct the defects that the first act had left unaddressed. However, no proposal was successful until 1867, when Parliament adopted the Second Reform Act. The Reform Act 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act, and formally titled the Representation of the People Act 1867) 30 & 31 Vict

Assessment

Several historians credit the Reform Act 1832 with cementing the rise of modern democracy in Britain. G. M. Trevelyan hails 1832 as the watershed moment at which "'the sovereignty of the people' had been established in fact, if not in law. George Macaulay Trevelyan CBE OM ( February 16, 1876 Welcombe House, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire "^[50] Sir Erskine May notes that "[the] reformed Parliament was, unquestionably, more liberal and progressive in its policy than the Parliaments of old; more vigorous and active; more susceptible to the influence of public opinion; and more secure in the confidence of the people," but admitted that "grave defects still remained to be considered. Thomas Erskine May 1st Baron Farnborough ( 8 February 1815 &ndash 17 May 1886) was a British constitutional theorist "^[51] Other historians have taken a far less laudatory view, arguing that genuine democracy began to arise only with the Second Reform Act in 1867, or perhaps even later. The Reform Act 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act, and formally titled the Representation of the People Act 1867) 30 & 31 Vict Norman Gash states that "it would be wrong to assume that the political scene in the succeeding generation differed essentially from that of the preceding one. Norman Gash (born 1912 is a renowned historian famous for his biography/analysis of Sir Robert Peel. "^[52] E. A. Smith proposes, in a similar vein, that "when the dust had settled, the political landscape looked much as it had done before. ^[53]

See also

• Official names of United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies
• List of constituencies enfranchised and disfranchised by the Reform Act 1832

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

• Text of the Reform Act 1832.
• Bloy, Marjie. "The Reform Act Crisis."
• The National Archives. "The Struggle for Democracy."
• Spartacus. "1832 Reform Act."