Parliamentary Reform - The Representation of the People Act 1884

Question 1

What was the pressure to pass the Act - What did Gladstone believe

Answer 1

Gladstone (Lib PM after the election of 1880) believed that if urban working classes could vote, so too should rural working classes

Question 2

What was the pressure to pass the Act - What was the attitude of Con leader Salisbury?

Answer 2

Salisbury, the Con leader, was anti-reform but saw that it was better to control the inevitable change rather than be left behind by it

Question 3

What was the pressure to pass the Act - What was the role of extra-P?

Answer 3

Extra-P pressure was not a feature of this Act

Question 4

What was the pressure to pass the Act - How was it seen by Derby?

Answer 4

Seen as a ‘leap in the dark’ by Con PM Lord Derby

Question 5

What did the act do - What happened to the property qualification?

Answer 5

Property qualification was standardised between boroughs and counties so that poor labourers and tenant farmers had the £10 qualification

Question 6

What was the impact of the act - Electorate numbers?

Answer 6

Added 2.5 million working class voters, so about 67% of the adult male pop could vote

Question 7

What was the impact of the act - Residiuum and women?

Answer 7

Still excluded the ‘residuum’ working class and all women