British Reforms

British Reform Acts

Pre-1832, Britain was not by any means, a ‘democratic’ country. Although the people had a say, that is not the backbone of democracy - and it was a weak one as well;
Very little men had the vote (5:6)
English counties - 1 voter per 24 citizens!
Scotland - 1 voter for every 5 citizens!
No women had the vote
The House of Lords (as today) was not an elected body

At this time, the political spectrum was built on two political parties - the Whigs and the Tories (Liberals/Conservatives). The Conservatives (with a large vote toward the HoL) were against reform, the Liberals however were far more sympathetic! - Thus, came the reforms.

The first liberal reform bill put forward was dismissed at committee stage, leading to the government going out of power. They were re-instated at the general election and proposed a second bill - this bill got as far as the House of Lords. Eventually however, due to Tory absence, the bill was passed in June 1832.

The 1832 Reform Act;
Disenfranchisement:
56 nomination or rotten boroughs returning 111 MPs lost their representation
30 boroughs with less than 4,000 inhabitants lost one MP each
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis gave up two of their four Mps

Enfranchisement:
65 seats were awarded to the counties
44 seats were distributed to 22 larger towns including Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and the new London metropolitan districts
21 smaller towns were given one MP each
Scotland was awarded 8 extra seats
Ireland was given 5 extra seats
After this reform - there were 658 (53 in Scotland).


Disappointment was rife after this reform act, so popular groups such as the Chartists began to crop up!

6 Points of the People’s Charter;
Universal adult manhood suffrage (suffrage - the right to vote)
Secret ballot
Equal constituencies
Abolition of the property qualifications for MP’s
Payment of MP’s (they were originally unpaid, hence the lack of working class MP’s!)
Annual general elections

In 1866, a second reform bill was passed,
‘The 1866 Reform Bill’;
Men owning or renting a property of £7 per year rateable value would get the vote in boroughs
£10 lodgers in the boroughs would get the vote
County tenants who rented land and who paid more than £14 a year would get the vote
£50 bank depositors would get the vote
In all, an additional 400,000 would have got the vote. (increasing the electorate (the voting mass) by 5%)


There was a second reform act; ‘The Second Reform Act 1867’
In the boroughs, all householders with on year’s residence and who paid rates got the vote
Lodgers living in accommodation valued at £10 annual rent got the vote
In the counties, the franchise was extended by reducing the £10 value for copyholders and leaseholders down to £5
Occupiers of premises which had a rateable value of £12 got the vote

Elliot Morrison;
"While it is clear that the Second Reform Act increased the numbers of men entitled to vote from one in seven in 1833, to one in three, it did not alter the balance of political power in Britain."


Representation of the People Act 1884;
The electorate was increased from 2.5 million to 5 million
In England and Wales, 2 out of three men now had the vote
Male householders and lodgers in the counties now had the vote
Voting qualifications in the towns and counties were now identical, I.e. all householders and lodgers paying £10 annum in rent could vote


Redistribution of Seats Act 1885;
79 towns which had a population under 15,00 lost both of their seats
36 towns which had a population between 15,00 and 50,000 lost one seat
Towns with populations between 50,00 and 165,000 lost both their seats
Universities kept two seats
The remainder of the country was divided into single member constituencies
The total number of MP’s was increased from 652 to 670
Scotland’s representation increased to 72 MP’s
In Scotland, seven additional seats went to the counties
Lanark’s representation was increased from two to six MP’s
The counties of Fire, Perth and Renfrew each had their representation increased to two MP’s each
In the Scottish cities, Glasgow’s representation increased from 3 MP’s to 7, Edinburgh’s from two to four MP’s, and Aberdeen’s increased from one to two MP’s


Although not a reform act, the ‘1833 Corrupt and Illegal Practises Act’ was big step in reform;
That a candidates election funds expenses were determined by the size of the constituency
What campaign money could be spent on
That election agents had to account for their spending
A detailed definition of corrupt and illegal practises
That a breach of a law disqualified a candidate for seven years
That active involvement in corruption was punishable by a fine or imprisonment

Hopefully this has given you a better understanding of the British reforms and some of the stages of gaining democracy! You can read some of my other articles in relation, for example; the Suffragettes.