Political System in 1783

• How many members of the House of Commons in 1783?

  558MPs - publicly elected every 7 years
• How many members of the House of Lords?

  220 peers - not elected
• Example of a rotten borough


  - Old Sarum

  - 11 voters

  - 2MPs
• Example of a pocket borough

  - Buteshire

  - 12 voters

  - Owned by the Earl of Bute
• What was the population in Britain in 1801?

  10.9 million
• How many people could vote in 1783?

  - 1 in 12

  - Approx 250,000
• When were Pitt's attempts to reform the system by redistributing seats?

  1792 and 1795 - Pitt tried to give seats to unrepresented towns and cities - this was rejected both times
• 2 Party Politics?

  There was no distinct 2 party political system here and isn't until 1832
• What % of Parliament was landed gentry?

  70%
• What is a pocket borough?

  - A borough where the voting population were easily and consistently bribed/intimidated into voting for their landowner's preferred candidate

  
  

  - This could be easily done as there was no secret ballot and newspapers would publish who you voted for
• When did Pitt win the election?

  1784
• Why was George III hated by the press?

  The humiliating loss of the American Revolutionary war in 1783
• What powers did George III have?

  - Could summon and dismiss ministers - appointed Pitt and dismissed the Fox-North coalition after the failure of the East India Bill 1783

  
  

  - Had the power of patronage which was set out in the Bill of Rights

  
  

  - Could veto legislation

  
  

  - Could summon and dissolve parliament
• What were the limitations to George III rule?

  - He couldn't rule without parliament, if dissolved it had to be immediately rebuilt with a general election

  
  

  - He was unlikely to veto legislation as he was financially dependent upon Parliament for his annual funds through the Civil List
• What could HofL do that the HofC couldn't?

  Veto legislation