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The Great Reform Act 1832. Background to the reform. Elections Pre-1832. Who could vote? County seats men who owned land worth 40 shillings (approx £100) Boroughs varied enormously In 1831 12-13% of males could vote out of a total population of 24,132,294.
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The Great Reform Act 1832 Background to the reform
Elections Pre-1832 • Who could vote? • County seats men who owned land worth 40 shillings (approx £100) • Boroughs varied enormously • In 1831 12-13% of males could vote out of a total population of 24,132,294. • Elections only held if the seat was contested. • Many boroughs were controlled by large landowners.
Who had all the power? • The Landowners • Very important they represented law an order and providers of welfare • The idea of deference • It was the expectation that man of rank would represent ordinary people.
Types of borough constituency • Rotten borough – areas with little or no population but still had an MP. Old Sarum near Salisbury no people, landowner was the voter. • Pocket borough – landowner used his influence to control the voters to elect the candidate of his choice • Scot and Lot – all the men who paid local taxes could vote • Potwalloper – men could vote if they lived in a house with a fire place large enough to boil a pot. • Corporations – only members of the local council could vote • Freeman = all men who had acquired the title of freeman through an apprenticeship could vote.
Arguments against Reform • The French Revolution • Democracy = mob rule • Democracy was seen as a threat to the rights of a freeborn Englishman not an ideal. • System was not unrepresentative – it represented all major economic interests • A man may not have the vote but is represented by the landlord.
Arguments for Reform • Need to reduce the influence of the King and his ministers. • The allocation of MP’s to boroughs depended on its status in the Middle Ages • Example Dunwich in 1831 32 electors and 2 MP’s. Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds no representation in Parliament. • The Rights of Man – legitimate Government must had a mandate from the people in governed.
Catholic Emancipation • The impact of Catholic Emancipation was huge – it paved the way for further reform • “the battering ram that broke down the old system” • This measure showed that you could change a system.
Views on Reform • Traditional view is that reform came about because of the gradual pressure from without. • More recent research suggests that the move to reform came from within – MP’s started to recognise the need for change. • In the country – rising middle class demanded a say in politics • The return of popular radicalism • Swing Riots, formation of Political unions • Parliament needed to regain the trust of the people
Key issues • What were the main features of the old system? • Why had this system survived so long? • How and why did the Tories and the Whig parties differ over the issue of reform?
