How did Parliamentary Reform develop after 1832?

1. How did Parliamentary Reform develop after 1832? Objective To understand the causes and consequences of the Second Reform Act To be able to describe how it changed the electoral system

2. Disraeli and the Second Reform Act • Great Reform Act 1832 => principle of greater representation • 1860s pressure (external and internal) • Liberals and Conservatives accepted need for reform • Disraeli = realist, wanted control • Gladstone’s Reform Bill 1866 => Conservative attack

3. Disraeli and the Second Reform Act • Liberals resigned &Conservative returned to office • Disraeli’s Reform Bill 1867 • “wholly in keeping with the manners, the customs, the laws, the traditions of the people” • Franchise privilege attached to ownership of property • Radical amendment widened franchise to 500,000 ‘compounders’

4. Disraeli and the Second Reform Act • Strengthen Conservative vote in county • Bold move – uncertainty • Perceived importance of w/c voter or opportunism • M/C who mattered and were wooed • BUT 1868 Conservatives were defeated by Gladstone

5. Main terms of Second Reform Act 1867 • In boroughs • Vote extended to all male householders & lodgers paying £10 a year to ‘compounders’ • In Counties • Vote extended to male £12 leaseholders • Boroughs of less than 10,000 lost one seat • 45 seats redistributed to counties and larger towns • Effect = doubling of electorate from 1.1million to 2 million and large numbers of working men got vote for first time

7. Task • Complete the A3 Second Reform Act cause and consequence diagram, and make notes under the headings from the handout

8. Radical pressure from Reform Union and Reform League Urban Artists Enfranchised Second Reform Act 1867 Disraeli/ Conservatives Main Features of Legislation Improved Party Organisation Gladstone and Liberal Initiatives Disraeli’s Opportunism Other: