Changes in representation in Britain (1780-1928)

Question 1

what did the 1832 GRA achieve for franchise

Answer 1

• Boroughs - male freeholders (owner) of land worth £10 can vote
• Counties - £12 freeholders can vote

Question 2

when were the 3 reform acts

Answer 2

• 1832
• 1867
• 1884

Question 3

How many adult males can vote from the 1832 reform act (representation)

Answer 3

• 1 in 5 adult males - 800,000

Question 4

How many boroughs were disenfranchised in 1832

Answer 4

• 56 rotten boroughs

Question 5

what is evidence of pressure from below for the 1832 GRA

Answer 5

• Swing Movement 1830: rural protests and disturbances due to use of threshing (machinery) machines
• Days of May 1832: a period of social + political unrest after the Tories blocked the 3rd Reform Bill in the HoL

Question 6

what was the 1858 Property Qualifications for MPs Act

Answer 6

• parliaments candidates / MPs no longer had to own property, thus opening up parliament to the MC + WC

Question 7

Why did the property qualification act 1858 come about

Answer 7

• Glover (MP), was arrested after his qualification as an MP included fraud, failing to ignore his property was heavily mortgaged, however its estimated over 1/2 of the MPs did this

Question 8

What changes did 1867 2nd reform act make to the borough franchise

Answer 8

• adult males owning houses could now vote if at least a resident for 9 months, & also people renting (lodgers) property worth £5 per annum
• no change in counties

Question 9

who could vote after the 1867 RA

Answer 9

• 1 in 3 adult males

Question 10

Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised in 1867

Answer 10

• 45 seats taken from boroughs with a population of less than 10,000

Question 11

1867: _____ electorate grows by ___% ; the ___ dominate the borough electorate for the 1st time

Answer 11

• 1867: borough electorate grows by 134% ; the w/c dominate the borough electorate for the 1st time

Question 12

Give examples of the boroughs that gained seats in 1867

Answer 12

• Liverpool & Manchester get a 3rd MP

Question 13

what was the 1872 Secret Ballot Act

Answer 13

• made voting private/ introduced the secret ballot

Question 14

what was the pressure from below for the 1872 SBA

Answer 14

• rads felt it would give voters more freedom & Gladstone felt compelled to accept policy ideas from radicals in order to keep his coalition together

Question 15

what the 1883 Corrupt Practises Act

Answer 15

• set a limit on expenditure & prohibited treating & bribery
• it required expenditure to be accounted for & introduced penalties

Question 16

Why did the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act came about

Answer 16

• the 1872 act didn’t stop bribery, & due to an increased electorate since 1867, more people to bribe
• e.g in Gloucester, 38% of the 5600 electors had taken bribes

Question 17

What changes did 1884 make in the borough & county franchises

Answer 17

• household suffrage & the lodger franchise was extended to the counties

Question 18

How many adult males could vote due to the 1884 3rd RA

Answer 18

• 2 in 3 adult males, so 5.7 million could now vote

Question 19

Give details of the boroughs that were disenfranchised from the 1885 Redistribution Act

Answer 19

• boroughs with populations less than 15,000 lose their MPs
• those with less than 50,000 lose 1 MP

Question 20

Outline the 2 changes that were made by the Parliament Act 1911

Answer 20

• introduction of salaries for MPs
• HofL; prevented from rejecting or amending a money bill

Question 21

Which party was most likely to benefit from the Parliament Act, 1911

Answer 21

• Labour; more w/c men can become MPs because of the introduction of MP salaries

Question 22

when was the Representation of the People Act

Answer 22

• 1918

Question 23

What changes did the 1918 Act make to the franchise

Answer 23

• female householders 30+ win the votes
• men 21+ with 6 years of residency win the vote

Question 24

in the 1918 RofPA, the number of voters increased from ___m (1910) to ___m (1918)

Answer 24

in the 1918 RofPA, the number of voters tripled from 7.7m (1910) to 21.4m (1918)

Question 25

Following the 1918 reform act, which adult remained excluded from the franchise

Answer 25

• women aged 21 to 30

Question 26

what was the name of the 1928 act

Answer 26

• the 1928 Equal Franchise Act

Question 27

who + how many extra voters were added to the electorate by the 1928 act

Answer 27

• 5 million new voters; all women 21+ could now vote

Question 28

define turning point

Answer 28

• turning point = a marked shift in development

Question 29

what are the 3 criteria used to assess reform acts

Answer 29

• electorate: numerical increase, makeup of gender / class
• distribution of seats across areas
• corruption: plural voting, secret ballot, expenditure, rotten boroughs
• payment of MPs

Question 30

outline the 1790 Acts under Pitt’s Govt

Answer 30

• Royal proclamation against seditious writings + publications (1792): authorised Govt to use spies to infiltrate rad. groups
• suspension of habeas corpus (1794): allowed auth. to detain suspects w/o trial
• Treason Trials (1794): 40+ radicals (including LCS leaders Thomas Hardy, John Horn Tooke) arrested + charged with high treason
• The Gag Acts 1795, The combination Act 1799

Question 31

state an example of a rotten borough before the 1832 GRA

Answer 31

• Dunwich
• Old Sarum

Question 32

between ______-__, when the economy was stable, there wasn’t a single _______ for political reform

Answer 32

• between 1824-29, when the economy was stable, there wasn’t a single petition for political reform

Question 33

name 2 significant whig reform acts

Answer 33

• The Factory Act 1833
• The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

Question 34

outline the The Factory Act 1833

Answer 34

• reduced child labour hours;
• those 9-13yrs could only work 8 hrs
• 13-18 could work max 12 hrs
• under 13s had to do 2 hrs of schooling

Question 35

outline The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834

Answer 35

• no outdoor poor relief given to able-bodied poor
• workhouse conditions deliberately poor
• pauper (a very poor person) children should be educated daily

Question 36

the Corn Laws were seen as…

Answer 36

• the Corn Laws were seen as a symbol of the aristocracy’s privileged position

Question 37

after the 1832 GRA, _____ said it was “a final and _____ ____”, not a basis for future ______

Answer 37

• after the 1832 GRA, Peel said it was “a final and irrevocable settlement”, not a basis for future reform

Question 38

by ____, there were about ______ plural voters

Answer 38

• by 1910, there were about 500,000 plural voters