Whigs and Tories

• The Whigs and Parliamentary reform, 1783-1830:

  • Whigs had advocated for reform under Rockingham
  • Rockingham had advised the reformer Wyvill
  • Fox continues to support reform and ridiculed those like the Tory Windham who dismissed it as dangerous in 1790 -> Fox no matter what always supported the French Revolution
  • many whigs believed that reform would negate revolutionary threats
  • Society of the Friends of the People in 1792 -> advocated for more equal representation and Fox didn't believe in this as it was highly influenced by America
  • Burke predicted blood shed -> French Revolution
• Why was reform controversial:

  • popular support for reform would alarm many MP's -> fear of revolution
  • associated the Whigs with the increasingly unpopular French Revolution -> especially after the September 1792 massacres and the outbreak of war in 1793
  • it had bought the Whigs closer to splitting --> no prospect of Parliament being immediately pro-reform
  • challenges the aristocratic elite -> which the Whigs
  • Society of the Friends of the People -> disbanded in 1793
• Consequently:

  • Whigs were under the power of Lord Grenville from 1806-1807, with Fox as Foreign Secretary until his death 6 months later -> Abolition of the slave trade and the Catholic Emancipation was more important than reform
  • slave trade abolished in 1807 -> King wouldn't allow Catholic Emancipation
  • Grenville wasn't for parliamentary reform
  • after 1807 -> the Whigs remained in opposition
  • this changed from 1827
• During the period of Tory disarray:

  • Earl Grey revived his career due to tory outrage toward Peel and Wellington
  • Grey became prime minister in 1830
• The Tories and Parliamentary reform 1783-1830:

  • Wyvill (and the County Associations) and Pitt were conservatives who favoured minor reform
  • no modest reform would respect property rights and contained no real concession to either the new industrial areas or lower class was attempted in 1785
  • 1785 -> Pitt tried for reform but this fell through (tried to remove rotten boroughs)
  • French revolution exacerbated fear about reform
  • objection to Flood's Bill in 1790 -> hardening in Tory beliefs
• The Tories and Parliamentary reform 1783-1830:

  • corruption in the election at Grampound in 1818 -> 23 people put on trial in 1819, Whig John Russell tried to end this right in Grampound in 1820 ==> this was blocked
  • resisted change to the system
  • russell tight again -> only occurred in 1826
• The Tories and Parliamentary reform 1783-1830:

  • East Retford in Nottinghamshire had been in the control of the Duke of Newcastle who owned nearby land -> borough had swung to the Whig Fitzwilliam
  • voters sold their vote for 20 guineas (£21) -> for the general elections of 1818 and 1820
  • Tories revealed this in the 1826 elections after the Whigs won
  • Whigs wanted to move seats to Birmingham
  • Tories stopped this
  • Whigs were guilty of corruption but Tories weren't willing to move the seat
• Why did the Tories oppose reform:

  • most reformers were keen to see new industrial areas to gain representatives -> these boroughs would mainly vote for whigs
  • Peel and Canning thought that the old system ensured that independent thinkers were MP's, excellent leaders were chosen
  • Tories were acting in their own self interest
• The BPU: Birmingham Political Union

  • there were national campaigns for Parliamentary Reform
  • some of the biggest campaigns took place in Birmingham
  • one of the biggest figures was Thomas Attwood
  • John Brite and Joseph Strippe were also major figures
  • after 1815 the government cut back spending which caused a depression
  • this depression hit the working class men the most
  • to put this right -> Attwood wished to ease credit conditions and increase goods ==> increase money supply
  • parliament didn't agree with Attwood
  • George Edmund was the leader of the working classes in Birmingham
• The BPU: Birmingham Political Union cont'd

  • the BPU was formed in 1830
  • they wanted parliamentary reform
  • other unions formed -> temple row demonstration
  • BPU was an elected council of 36
  • Reforms they wanted --> vote for all men (who paid tax), secret ballot, no property qualification, pay MP's
  • pressurised parliament through mass meetings and petitions
  • New Hill
  • the biggest meeting was in 1832
  • the crowd were controlled and peaceful
  • in 1832 only the middle class men got the vote -> splitting the BPU
• A warning from France:

  • french revolution had presented a cautionary tale
  • Charles X ignored calls for reform in 1830, he was deposed and replaced with the liberal Louis Philippe -> timing of this lent impetus to call for changes in Britain
• Swing Riots (1829-30):

  • Low wages and unemployment, plus poor harvests in 1829 and 1830, resulted in hunger, protests and disturbances in the countryside, especially in the east and south of England. Farmers were sent threatening letters demanding that wages increase or at least stay the same. These letters often demanded farmers not to use threshing machines. Farmers and landowners also had their hayricks and farm buildings burnt. The protesters used the name ‘Captain Swing’.
• Bristol riots, Nottingham riots, disturbances in Bath, Conventry, Worcester, Warwick and Derby
• How serious was the discontent: Quite

  • people feared an escalation of violence
  • urban and rural discontent peaked at the same time
  • middle and working classes -> common cause
  • troops had to be developed to gain control and harsh punishments against swing rioters used
• How serious was the discontent: Not Very

  • not that many people were involved
  • distribution was contained
  • violence was not organised
• What was the role of popular discontent in the passage of the 1832 Reform Bill:

  • agitation of the French War 1815-1820 --> mainly in urban areas, 1830 --> open revolt in the countryside (the swing riot) == affected the south and the midlands ~~>> due to the introduction of threshing machines
  • emerging BPU calling for reform and this was becoming widespread
  • HOWEVER --> without the political will for change in parliament little would have been achieved by these popular expressions of discontent
• Churchill's Reform Bill

  • George Churchill ==> although a strong Tory he won approval of the BPU ~> due to the bill he introduced in February 1830
  • standing committee to scrutinise and report on corrupt boroughs and identify new areas with large populations with which to replace them, all may householders to vote, payment of MP's
  • extension of the county franchise, repeal of the Septennial Act --> elections to be held more frequently
  • abolition of the qualification for members, exclusion of all office holders from the Commons
  • Bill failed -> pushed Whigs to a measure of their own
• Thomas Attwood (1783-1856):

  • banker and economist with radical political ideas -> campaigned for the reform of Parliament
  • first came to prominence through his campaign to have a paper currency --> value of which would not be tied to the price of gold --> founded the BPU
  • calculated that a larger number of middle class MP's in parliament, would press for radical change
  • represented Birmingham from 1832-1839
  • presented the first Chartist Petition