Britian politics

• Constituencies


  Counties (rural) + Boroughs (urban)
• House of Lords (HOL)


  Hereditary (inherited power) + Mainly conservatives
• Catholic emancipation


  1829
• Great reform act


  1832
• Tories split


  1833
• Repeal of corn laws

  1846
• Crimean war


  1854-56
• Liberal party formed


  1859
• Palmerston death


  1865
• Reform league set up

  1865
• Violence in Hyde park after reform league met

  1866
• 2nd reform act


  1867
• Secret ballot act


  1872
• Corrupt practices act

  1883
• 3rd reform act


  1884
• Redistribution act


  1885
• Voting was done in public, hustling votes were recorded + published, bribery + corruption
• HOL had power to propose + amend + reject any legislation passed by HOC
• Qualify as MP posses property in value of £600 for counties + £300 for boroughs
• Owning land in county valued at 40 shilling could vote
• Borough right to vote was set out in borough charter, set the rights of residents in borough included just ratepayer + or all males
• MPs attendance was optional + not paid
• Rotten borough areas declined in population still retained the right to MP
• Elections were held every 7 years
• Seats were distributed unequally, rural areas had more than 1 MP + large towns had 1 MP
• Right to vote restricted to limited number of men
• Great reform act 1832


  • Many Rotten + pocket boroughs abolished
  • 140 Seats Redistributed to new towns + cities that never had MP
  • Set a precedent for change + seen as starting point in improving British parliament system
  • Franchise doubled to 800,000 voters however population was 24 million majority not vote
  • Secret ballot not implemented
  • WC men + women not given share of political power still dominated by wealthy landowners
• 1829 catholic emancipation + 1832 GRA = cause of Tory split 1833
• Whigs more liberal minded + ultra tories who opposed + hostile to further reform
• 1834-1841 peel shifted the Conservative Party to moderate attitude supported GRA + further reform
• 1841 conservatives won general election with majority
• Peel commit country to free trade highly controversial repeal of the corn laws 1846 which protected British agriculture from foreign completion contributed in formation of peelites + split of cons
• 1846-1868 Disraeli leader of backbench conservatives attacked peel in commons emerged as second to derby + was made chancellor in 1852 + PM in 1868
• Lord grey passed great reform act 1832
• By 1846 Whigs becoming known as the 'liberals' (not formally until 1859) due to 2 merging factions; liberal minded Tories left Tory over GRA + lord john Russell Whig leader welcomes and supported peelites when the corn laws were repealed
• Leading figures in the period 1851-1852 were lord Russell + Palmerston but did not get along but put diffrence to serve in earl of Aberdeen coalition in 1852
• Palmerston unites liberal party 1859 but against further reform
• Russell + Gladstone support idea for further reform
• Palmerston dies in 1865 barrier to reform lifted allow plans for 2nd reform act
• Gladstonian liberalism


  Minimum government intervention + maximum freedom of the individual