Parliamentary Reform - Representation in Britain from 1780-1928

Question 1

Problems of Representation in 1780 - Standardisation of constituencies?

Answer 1

No standardisation of the size and type of constituency – counties had two MPs (except Yorkshire which had four) regardless of the pop or

Question 2

Problems of Representation in 1780 - Over-representation and under-representation - Old Sarum and rotten boroughs, no of boroughs with over 1000 pop in 1830, representation of industrial cities?

Answer 2

There were significantly over-represented places such as Old Sarum with seven votes – these were known as rotten boroughs – only 43 of the 202 parliametary boroughs in 1830 had pops over 1000 – on the other hand the newer major industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham had pops of 144,000 and 182,000 with no representation in P

Question 3

Problems of Representation in 1780 - Imbalance in the distribution of seats

Answer 3

Geographical imbalance to the distribution of seats - rural Cornwall (300,000 pop) sent 42 MPs while urbanised Lancashire (1.3 million pop) sent 14

Question 4

The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What happened in 1785?

Answer 4

In 1785, PM Pitt proposed reforms to the constitution with the aim of making the system more representative – he was the first PM to propose this and was in part due to his progressive nature

Question 5

The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What were Pitt’s proposals also designed to do?

Answer 5

However, it was also to win support from the county gentry, especially a group called the County Association which demanded more than 100 county MPs and annual general elections – this had been a problem for the previous PM, Lord North, and were supported by Pitt’s political rival Fox

Question 6

The failure of Pitt’s proposals - What were the specifics of Pitt’s reforms?

Answer 6

Pitt’s proposals were to remove 36 small boroughs and to redistribute 72 sears among county and city constituencies, to use £1 million to compensate borough property owners who lost their political influence, and to extend to 40 shilling franchise in the counties to long-term renters

Question 7

The failure of Pitt’s proposals - Votes on the proposals in the Commons and why it failed?

Answer 7

However, the bill was defeated 248 to 174 due to opposition from the borough property owners and Pitt’s political rival Fox

Question 8

The Representation of the People Act 1832 - How many rotten boroughs lost both and one MP?

Answer 8

As well as extending the franchise, the 1832 Act made some improvements to the redistribution of seats – 56 rotten boroughs lost their constituencies entirely (EG Appleby), while a further 30 lost one of their two MPs (EG St Ives)

Question 9

The Representation of the People Act 1832 - How many constituencies created with two and one MP?

Answer 9

In place of these reductions, 22 new constituencies were created with two MPs each (EG Manchester, Stockport and Leeds), as well as 20 with one MP each (EG Rochdale and Wakefield) in areas that had been underrepresented – this went some way to rebalancing the redistribution of seats

Question 10

The Representation of the People Act 1832 - What was the result of the new boundaries in terms of the number of constituencies that held elections?

Answer 10

• Due to new boundaries, more constituencies had contested elections
• Pre 1832, number of constituencies that held elections was never above 40% with the rest appointing their usual representative, or giving each party one representative
• In the 1832 general election, 74% of constituencies held elections for the first time rather than appointing, though it fell back to average 60% until 1867

Question 11

The Representation of the People Act 1867 - What happened under this Act to redistribution and why?

Answer 11

Under the 1867 Act, further constituency reorganisation occurred – it is of note that this was not directly for progress but to retain Con dominance in the affected areas

Question 12

The Representation of the People Act 1867 - How many boroughs lost one and both of their MPs?

Answer 12

• 38 boroughs (EG Lichfield) lost one of their two MPs
• 4 borough lost both MPs

Question 13

The Representation of the People Act 1867 - How many seats given to underrepresented constituencies and counties (and why)?

Answer 13

• 45 seats were given to under-represented constituencies like Burnley and Middlesborough
• 25 seats given to counties to strengthen landed interests

Question 14

The Representation of the People Act 1867 - When and how many English boroughs lost their seats and why?

Answer 14

The year after, 7 English boroughs also lost their seats to create new Scottish boroughs in under-represented areas

Question 15

The Representation of the People Act 1867 - What was the situation with political representation after 1867 and what were the two reasons it was still imbalanced?

Answer 15

• By 1867 political representation was more balanced, but still uneven for two main reasons:
• The constituencies were still not balanced in size
• The hustings were still open to landowners influence and corruption

Question 16

The Secret Ballot Act 1872 - What did this act address?

Answer 16

This act addressed the issue of landowner influence in elections so that voters could vote more freely

Question 17

The Secret Ballot Act 1872 - What did this act introduce and what did this allow voters to do?

Answer 17

It introduced secret voting, where voters do not tell anyone who they voted for – this allowed voters to choose privately without their landlords knowing

Question 18

The Secret Ballot Act 1872 - Circumstances of the Bill’s passing?

Answer 18

It was passed by Gladstone’s Lib gov despite strong Con opposition under Disraeli

Question 19

The Secret Ballot Act 1872 - Affect in Ireland?

Answer 19

It particularly changed representation in Ireland, allowing tenants to be free from supporting their English landlords and contributed greatly to the Irish Home Rule movement

Question 20

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - What happened in the 1880 election?

Answer 20

The 1880 election had been one of the most filled with corruption and bribery in years, so something had to be done, leading to the Corrupt Practices Act of 1883

Question 21

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - Estimates of the amount of corrupt and extremely corrupt boroughs from 1864-84?

Answer 21

According to some estimates, between 1864 and 1884, 64 English boroughs had a ‘corrupt element’, while of these 64, 21 boroughs were ‘extremely corrupt’

Question 22

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - What did this Act do and who was it passed by?

Answer 22

This law, also passed by Gladstone’s liberals, limited the amount that could be spent on elections to prevent domination by the wealthy – candidates could spend no more than £710 on the first 2000 voters, and an extra £40 for each additional 1000 voters after that

Question 23

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - What was also banned under this act?

Answer 23

This included rules on providing food and drink at the ballot to bribe people and providing carts to take voters to the polls

Question 24

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - What did this Act require?

Answer 24

It required organised record keeping to prove spending and imposed heavy penalties on anyone who broke this

Question 25

The Corrupt Practices Act 1883 - Impact of this Act?

Answer 25

Although there was some limited evidence of corrupt practices in elections after this act, on the whole the act was successful at wiping out corruption during elections

Question 26

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What were opponents of P reform aware of and what did this lead to in 1867 and 1884?

Answer 26

• In 1867 and 1884, opponents of P reform had been aware that it was not going to be possible simply to ignore the reform movement, but that rather it had to be controlled
• Therefore, in 1867, the Cons passed the reform bill, and in 1884, the Cons worked with the Liberals

Question 27

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What did Con leader insist on and why?

Answer 27

However, Con leader Salisbury insisted that a subsequent act was needed to redraw constituency boundaries – this was mainly out of concern that the newly enfranchised Lib working class electorate in urban areas should not overpower the more Con supporting rural areas

Question 28

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What did Salisbury’s insistence lead to and how was this resolved?

Answer 28

This led to an impasse between Libs and Cons, which was eventually resolved by Queen Victoria through the Arlington Steet compact which saw a redistribution of seats passed alongside the reform bill of 1884

Question 29

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What four things did the act do?

Answer 29

• Boroughs with fewer than 15,000 voters losing both MPs, with boroughs with fewer than 50,000 voters losing one MP – those with over 50,000 voters were divided, freeing up 142 seats to redistribute, along with 18 seats added
• Most constituencies now has a single MP – only 28 boroughs with over 50,000 pop kept two MPs
• Boundaries were moved to make constituencies with smaller pops
• A Boundary Commission was set up to redraw the boundaries in case of pop change

Question 30

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What effect did this act have?

Answer 30

The effect was that constituencies became distinctly rural or urban, rather than having areas where the voters of a large urban area were combined with rural voters

Question 31

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What did this Act do to Con voters and how?

Answer 31

This served to protect and strengthen Con votes – it created wealthy suburban constituencies which were not separate from the Lib urban strongholds, giving the Cons seats in areas they had previously always lost – this was known as ‘Villa Toryism’

Question 32

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What was the effect on the representation of the middle classes in P?

Answer 32

Another effect was that the urban middle classes became better represented in P, equalling the numbers of rural nobility who were MPs

Question 33

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 - What was the effect on party politics?

Answer 33

Also with almost all constituencies having one MP, it was more necessary for parties to compete for votes, whereas in some pre-1885 two-MP constituencies, the two parties would often appoint one MP for each party and avoid an election

Question 34

The Representation of the People Act 1918 - What did this Act do?

Answer 34

• This continued the work of the 1885 Act, and further equalised the size on constituencies by removing the smallest constituencies
• One impact was to create more suburban, middle class constituencies in large cities without the working class inner city areas, thereby increasing Con votes

Question 35

The extent of change in representation by 1928 - What ensured equal representation

Answer 35

By the late 19th century, the major redrawing of constituency boundaries meant that the pop of Britain was equally represented in the sense that each area had proportionally the same number of MPs as other areas

Question 36

The extent of change in representation by 1928 - Were any areas underrepresented?

Answer 36

No areas were underrepresented since all pop centres, including new industrial cities, were included in the redrawn constituency boundaries

Question 37

The extent of change in representation by 1928 - What happened when cities grew?

Answer 37

When cities grew, the Boundary Commission would ensure that boundaries shifted to balance out the areas and keep elections representative of the pop

Question 38

The extent of change in representation by 1928 - What happened by the 20th century?

Answer 38

By the 20th century, the political system gave equal representation to all, and by means of the Boundary Commission, was designed to avoid the future creation of ‘rotten boroughs’ by having the process to update the Constituencies