Reform Act 1867 - wikipedia Reform Act 1867 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2014 ) Contemporary cartoon of Disraeli outpacing Gladstone at The Derby, parodying the perceived victor in debates in a split Liberal - led Commons while Disraeli 's fellow Conservative, Lord Derby led as Prime Minister from the House of Lords. The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 ( known informally as the Reform Act of 1867 or the Second Reform Act ) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first time. Before the Act, only one million of the seven million adult males in England and Wales could vote ; the Act immediately doubled that number. Moreover, by the end of 1868 all male heads of household were enfranchised as a result of the end of compounding of rents. However, the Act introduced only a negligible redistribution of seats. The overall intent was to help the Conservative Party, yet it resulted in their loss of the 1868 general election. Contents 1 Background 2 Birth of the Act 3 Provisions of the Act 3.1 Reduced representation 3.1. 1 Disenfranchised boroughs 3.1. 2 Halved representation 3.2 Enfranchisements 3.3 Other changes 4 Reforms in Scotland and Ireland 5 Effects 5.1 Direct effects of the Act 5.2 Unintended effects 6 The Reform Act in fiction 7 See also 8 Notes 9 Bibliography Background For the decades after the Great Reform Act of 1832, cabinets ( in that era leading from both Houses ) had resisted attempts to push through further reform, and in particular left unfulfilled the six demands of the Chartist movement. After 1848, this movement declined rapidly, and elite opinion began to change. It was thus only 28 years after the initial, quite modest, Great Reform Act that leading politicians thought it prudent to introduce further electoral reform. Lord John Russell, who in 1861 became the first Earl Russell, attempted this in 1860 ; but the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, a fellow Liberal, was against any further electoral reform. When Palmerston died in 1865, however, the floodgates for reform were opened. The Union victory in the American Civil War in 1865 emboldened the forces in Britain that demanded more democracy and public input into the political system, to the dismay of the upper class landed gentry who identified with the US Southern States planters and feared the loss of influence and a popular radical movement. Influential commentators included Walter Bagehot, Thomas Carlyle, Anthony Trollope, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill. In 1866, the Prime Minister, Lord Russell, introduced a Reform Bill. It was a cautious bill, which proposed to enfranchise `` respectable '' working men, excluding unskilled workers and what was known as the `` residuum '', those seen by MPs as the `` feckless and criminal '' poor. This was ensured by a £ 7 householder qualification, which had been calculated to require an income of 26 shillings a week. This entailed two `` fancy franchises, '' emulating measures of 1854, a £ 10 lodger qualification for the boroughs, and a £ 50 savings qualification in the counties. Liberals claimed that ' the middle classes, strengthened by the best of the artisans, would still have the preponderance of power '. When it came to the vote, however, this bill split the Liberal Party : a split partly engineered by Benjamin Disraeli, who incited those threatened by the bill to rise up against it. On one side were the reactionary conservative Liberals, known as the Adullamites ; on the other were pro-reform Liberals who supported the Government. The Adullamites were supported by Tories and the liberal Whigs were supported by radicals and reformists. The bill was thus defeated and the Liberal government of Russell resigned. Birth of the Act The Conservatives formed a ministry on 26 June 1866, led by Lord Derby as Prime Minister and Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer. They were faced with the challenge of reviving Conservatism : Palmerston, the powerful Liberal leader, was dead and the Liberal Party split and defeated. Thanks to manoeuvring by Disraeli, Derby 's Conservatives saw an opportunity to be a strong, viable party of government ; however, there was still a Liberal majority in the House of Commons. The Adullamites, led by Robert Lowe, had already been working closely with the Conservative Party. The Adullamites were anti-reform, as were the Conservatives, but the Adullamites declined the invitation to enter into Government with the Conservatives as they thought that they could have more influence from an independent position. Despite the fact that he had blocked the Liberal Reform Bill, in February 1867, Disraeli introduced his own Reform Bill into the House of Commons. By this time the attitude of many in the country had ceased to be apathetic regarding reform of the House of Commons. Huge meetings, especially the ' Hyde Park riots ', and the feeling that many of the skilled working class were respectable, had persuaded many that there should be a Reform Bill. However, wealthy Conservative MP Lord Cranborne resigned his government ministry in disgust at the bill 's introduction. The Reform League, agitating for universal suffrage, became much more active, and organized demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people in Manchester, Glasgow, and other towns. Though these movements did not normally use revolutionary language as some Chartists had in the 1840s, they were powerful movements. The high point came when a demonstration in May 1867 in Hyde Park was banned by the government. Thousands of troops and policemen were prepared, but the crowds were so huge that the government did not dare to attack. The Home Secretary, Spencer Walpole, was forced to resign. A Punch cartoon from August 1867 portraying the bill as a leap in the dark Faced with the possibility of popular revolt going much further, the government rapidly included into the bill amendments which enfranchised far more people. Consequently, the bill was more far - reaching than any Members of Parliament had thought possible or really wanted ; Disraeli appeared to accept most reform proposals, so long as they did not come from William Ewart Gladstone. An amendment tabled by the opposition ( but not by Gladstone himself ) trebled the new number entitled to vote under the bill ; yet Disraeli simply accepted it. The bill enfranchised most men who lived in urban areas. The final proposals were as follows : a borough franchise for all who paid rates in person ( that is, not compounders ), and extra votes for graduates, professionals and those with over £ 50 savings. These last `` fancy franchises '' were seen by Conservatives as a weapon against a mass electorate. However, Gladstone attacked the bill ; a series of sparkling parliamentary debates with Disraeli resulted in the bill becoming much more radical. Ironically, having been given his chance by the belief that Gladstone 's bill had gone too far in 1866, Disraeli had now gone further. Disraeli was able to persuade his party to vote for the bill on the basis that the newly enfranchised electorate would be grateful, and would vote Conservative at the next election. Despite this prediction, in 1868 the Conservatives lost the first general election in which the newly enfranchised electors voted. The bill ultimately aided the rise of the radical wing of the Liberal Party, and helped Gladstone to victory. The Act was tidied up with many further Acts to alter electoral boundaries. Provisions of the Act Reduced representation Disenfranchised boroughs Four electoral boroughs were completely disenfranchised by the Act, for corruption : Totnes ( two MPs ), Devon Great Yarmouth ( two MPs ), Norfolk Lancaster ( two MPs ), Lancashire Reigate ( one MP ), Surrey Seven English boroughs were disenfranchised by the Representation of the People ( Scotland ) Act 1868 the subsequent year : Arundel, Sussex Ashburton, Devon Dartmouth, Devon Honiton, Devon Lyme Regis, Dorset Thetford, Norfolk Wells, Somerset Three of these ( Honiton, Thetford, Wells ) had two MPs, but had been due to have their representation halved under the terms of the 1867 Act. However, the 1868 Act disenfranchised them altogether before the reduction in representation took effect. The other four boroughs had had one MP since 1832. Halved representation The following boroughs were reduced from electing two MPs to one : Andover, Hampshire Bodmin, Cornwall Bridgnorth, Shropshire Bridport, Dorset Buckingham, Buckinghamshire Chichester, Sussex Chippenham, Wiltshire Cirencester, Gloucestershire Cockermouth, Cumberland Devizes, Wiltshire Dorchester, Dorset Evesham, Worcestershire Guildford, Surrey Harwich, Essex Hertford, Hertfordshire Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire Knaresborough, West Riding of Yorkshire Leominster, Herefordshire Lewes, Sussex Lichfield, Staffordshire Ludlow, Shropshire Lymington, Hampshire Maldon, Essex Marlow, Buckinghamshire Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire Marlborough, Wiltshire Newport, Isle of Wight Poole, Dorset Richmond, North Riding of Yorkshire Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire Stamford, Lincolnshire Tavistock, Devon Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire Windsor, Berkshire Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Three further boroughs ( Honiton, Thetford, Wells ) were also due to have their representation halved under the 1867 Act, but before this reduction took effect they were disenfranchised altogether by the 1868 Scottish Reform Act as noted above. Enfranchisements The Act created a number of new boroughs in Parliament. The following boroughs were enfranchised with one MP : Burnley, Lancashire Darlington, County Durham Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire Gravesend, Kent Hartlepool, County Durham Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire Stalybridge, Cheshire Stockton, County Durham Wednesbury, Staffordshire The following boroughs were enfranchised with two MPs : Chelsea, Middlesex Hackney, Middlesex In addition, the Act adjusted the representation of several existing boroughs. Salford and Merthyr Tydfil were given two MPs instead of one. Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester now had three MPs instead of two. Other changes The West Riding of Yorkshire divided into three districts each returning two MPs. Cheshire, Derbyshire, Devonshire, Essex, Kent, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Somerset, Staffordshire and Surrey divided into three districts instead of two, each returning two MPs. Lancashire divided into four two - member districts instead of a three - member district and a two - member district. University of London was given one seat. Parliament was allowed to continue sitting through a Demise of the Crown. MPs exempted from having to seek re-election upon changing offices. Reforms in Scotland and Ireland The reforms for Scotland and Ireland were carried out by two subsequent acts, the Representation of the People ( Ireland ) Act 1868 and the Representation of the People ( Scotland ) Act 1868. In Scotland, five existing constituencies gained members, and three new constituencies were formed. Two existing county constituencies were merged into one, giving an overall increase of seven members ; this was offset by seven English boroughs ( listed above ) being disenfranchised, leaving the House with the same number of members. The representation of Ireland remained unchanged. Effects Direct effects of the Act The unprecedented extension of the franchise to all householders effectively gave the vote to many working class men, quite a considerable change. Jonathan Parry described this as a ' borough franchise revolution ' ; the traditional position of the landed gentry in parliament would no longer be assured by money, bribery and favours ; but by the whims and wishes of the public. However, to blindly consider the de jure franchise extensions would be fallacious. The franchise provisions were flawed ; the act did not address the issues of compounding and of not being a ratepayer in a household. The compounding of rates and rents was made illegal, after it was abolished in a bill tabled by Liberal Grosvenor Hodgkinson ( this meant that all tenants would have to pay rates directly and thus qualify for the vote ). The preparation of the register was still left to easily manipulated party organisers who could remove opponents and add supporters at will. The sole qualification to vote was essentially being on the register itself. Unintended effects Increased amounts of party spending and political organisation at both a local and national level -- politicians had to account themselves to the increased electorate, which without secret ballots meant an increased number of voters to treat or bribe. The redistribution of seats actually served to make the House of Commons increasingly dominated by the upper classes. Only they could afford to pay the huge campaigning costs and the abolition of certain rotten boroughs removed some of the middle - class international merchants who had been able to obtain seats. The Reform Act in fiction Trollope 's Phineas Finn is concerned almost exclusively with the parliamentary progress of the Second Reform Act, and Finn sits for one of the seven fictional boroughs that are due to be disenfranchised. See also Representation of the People Act 1884 ( or Third Reform Act ) Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 Representation of the People Act 1918 ( Fourth Reform Act ) Disraeli Gladstone Salisbury Lloyd George Chartism Secret ballot The Parliamentary Archives holds the original of this historic record. Notes Notes Jump up ^ £ 113 per week or £ 491 per month in present terms based on CPI inflation Jump up ^ Later Cranborne became Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury References Jump up ^ ed. Christopher John Murray, `` Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760 - 1850 : A-K '', Fitzroy Dearborn Pub. ( 2004 ), p 115. ^ Jump up to : Brent E. Kinser, The American Civil War in the Shaping of British Democracy ( Ashgate, 2011 ) Jump up ^ J. Parry, The Rise and Fall of Liberal Government in Victorian Britain, pg 221, ( 1993 ) Bibliography Foot, Paul `` The Vote : how it was won and how it was undermined '' Viking Press London 2005 Scott - Baumann, British History 1815 - 1914 Smith, The Making of the Second Reform Bill McCord, British History 1815 - 1906 Blake, The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Cook, British Historical Facts 1830 - 1900 Electoral reform in the United Kingdom Reform Acts Parliamentary England and Wales, 1832 Scotland, 1832 Ireland, 1832 England and Wales, 1867 Scotland, 1868 Ireland, 1868 Municipal Scotland, 1833 England and Wales, 1835 Ireland, 1840 Representation of the People Acts 1884 1918 1928 1948 1949 1969 1981 1985 2000 Other related Acts Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 Ballot Act 1872 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 House of Commons ( Redistribution of Seats ) Act 1949 Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999 Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Electoral Administration Act 2006 Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 Fixed - term Parliaments Act 2011 Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 Related topics Unreformed House of Commons Chartism Reform Club Carlton Club Rotten and pocket boroughs Women 's suffrage Wales United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 United Kingdom legislation Pre-Parliamentary legislation List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain Parliament of England to 1483 1485 -- 1601 1603 -- 1641 Interregnum ( 1642 -- 1660 ) 1660 -- 1699 1700 -- 1706 Parliament of Scotland to 1706 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain 1707 -- 1719 1720 -- 1739 1740 -- 1759 1760 -- 1779 1780 -- 1800 Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701 -- 1800 Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1801 -- 1819 1820 -- 1839 1840 -- 1859 1860 -- 1879 1880 -- 1899 1900 -- 1919 1920 -- 1939 1940 -- 1959 1960 -- 1979 1980 -- 1999 2000 to date Halsbury 's Statutes Legislation.gov.uk Short titles relating to the European Union 1972 to date Church of England measures List Church of England Assembly ( Powers ) Act 1919 Legislation of devolved institutions Acts of the Scottish Parliament List Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales List Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders - in - Council / Orders in Council Orders - in - Council for Northern Ireland ( 1972 - 2009 ) Orders in Council for Northern Ireland Secondary legislation United Kingdom Statutory Instruments various Scottish Statutory Instruments Acts of Sederunt Acts of Adjournal all others Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reform_Act_1867&oldid=795943426 '' Categories : 1867 in law Representation of the People Acts United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1867 Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from August 2014 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2010 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2014 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Deutsch Français Русский Suomi Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 17 August 2017, at 13 : 59. 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Question: when did the working class get the vote
Answer: 1868