THE 1832 GREAT REFORM ACT

 1 st Reform Act – began process  Struggle with Lords, increased power of Commons  Step forward for democracy  143 borough seats redistributed to new towns The significance of 1832 G.R.A. The reform was limited and had 2 essential elements The redistribution of seats The remodelling and systemising of the franchise. Both elements accepted the key principle that the right to vote should be based on a property qualification

County voters:  40s freeholders remain  £10 long lease and copyholders  £50 annum rateable  £50 annum rent payers Borough voters:  £10 rate qualification  Previous voters for lifetime Franchise Criteria

 No secret ballot  Elections stay uncontested  MPs continue to come from landed  Nothing for working classes, turn to Chartism and T.Us.  Vote still tied to property  Pocket boroughs remain Other Issues

The Motives for Reform The key issue here is why did the Whigs seem to yield to radical pressure to reform, rather that just suppress it as previous Governments had done?

Interpretation 1 The Whigs stood to gain in electoral terms from a reformed system Evidence The extension of the franchise inn the boroughs to £10 householders the Whigs were aware that a new electorate of the non-conformists, shopkeepers and lower class towns people that would be Whig in character and the best hope of the Whigs retaining power.

Interpretation 2 There was a real threat of Revolution with out reform. Evidence The Whigs were faced with a real revolutionary threat in , and saw a growing radical alliance between the middle and the working classes. The new franchise would split that alliance, and the working class would be powerless without the leadership and support of the middle class.

Interpretation 3 The Reform Act was a tactical manipulation of electoral boundaries. Evidence 40 shilling freeholders could not vote in county elections if they qualified for the £10 borough franchise The Chandos Amendment – enfranchisement of tenant framers who were likely to be swayed by the landlords

Interpretation 4 The Whigs were motivated by a belief that reform was needed for its own sake. Evidence The leading Whigs saw ordered reform as justifiable and necessary in ordered to prevent political structures becoming misaligned from the process of economic and social change.

What were the key changes? The Whigs saw the reform as the important first step to full democracy, it was part of a process that allowed Britain to be politically stable and economically prosperous. HOW WOULD THE REFORM CREATE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC & SOCIAL STABILITY?

Criticisms of the Act Few recent historians believed the Act deserves to be called Great. There are continuities pre and post The Act did little to change the degree of power exercised by the aristocracy. The Middle Class remained under represented The working class remained excluded form the franchise.

The long term impact The development of working class political consciousness The evolution of the British party system This first act made it more difficult to resist further reforms (1867, 1884, 1918 & 1928) The Act created a precedent it represented the first occasion the aristocracy were forced into political concessions. The terms of the Act were not as important as the simple fact that it was passed.