Key Developments in Parliamentary Reform 1780-1872

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  • Created by: ktommo
  • Created on: 07-05-17 12:55
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  • Key Developements in Parliamentary Reform
    • 1780s
      • Importance
        • Attempts were made to pass Parliamentary Reform by Pitt and Duke of Richmond
        • Recognition that the System needed reforming
        • Growth in societies e.g. Yorkshire Association and LCS
      • Limitations
        • No reform was actually passed
        • Support for the status quo
        • Vested interests ensured no reform e.g. maintaining Rotten and Pocket Boroughs
    • French Revolution 1789 and 1790s
      • Importance
        • Gave momentum to radicalism in Britain
        • Inspired Whigs to propose Parliamentary Reform in the 1790s
        • Led to political literature like Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke
        • Contributed to the Revolutionary Underground
      • Limitations
        • No Parliamentary Reform took place
        • French Revolution did not create radicalisim, it only gave it momentum
        • Revolutionary Underground was not that revolutionary
        • French Revolution had a negative effect on Parliamentary Reform
        • War with France ensured that Reform became associated with revolution and being unpatriotic
    • Catholic Emancipation 1829
      • Importance
        • Settled a long running issue-since Act of Union 1800
        • Catholics could already vote but this gave them the opportunity to sit as an MP in Parliament and hold Govt jobs
        • Opened up the way for meaningful Parliamentary Reform
        • Showed that popular protest could lead to success e.g. Daniel O'Connell's Catholic Association
      • Limitations
        • Voting qualification in Irish Counties was amended from £2 and increased to £10 to reduce the influence of Catholic votes
    • 1832 Reform Act
      • Importance
        • First major Reform of Political System since mid C17th
        • Extended franchise to industrial M/C
        • Gave representation to industrial areas through re-distribution of seats
        • Uniform voting qualification in Boroughs
        • Allowed for further Political, Economic and Social Reform later in the century
      • Limitations
        • W/C men and all women were excluded from the vote still
        • No secret Ballot
        • System was still dominated by aristocracy
        • Need for further Parliamentary Reform as problems still remained
    • Chartism
      • Importance
        • The first mass W/C movement
        • Led to social unrest e.g. Newport Rising (1839);Plug Plot (1842); Kennington Common (1848)
        • Highlighted existing problems with the Electoral System
      • Limitations
        • 'Knife and Fork' question - as economy  improved support for Chartism ebbed away
        • Did not achieve any of their six aims at the time
        • Divisions within movement e.g. Moral and Physical Force
    • 1867
      • Importance
        • Extended the franchise significantly
        • Re-distributed seats
        • Enfranchised skilled W/C inn Boroughs
      • Limitations
        • Need for further Reform
        • Unequal voting qualification in Boroughs and Counties
        • No Secret Ballot
    • 1872
      • Importance
        • The Secret Ballot was finally passed - there had been campaigns since the late C18th for a secret ballot
        • Allowed voters to vote more freely without threat of intimidation or blackmail
        • Allowed Radical candidates and Irish Nationalist candidates to gain additional votes
      • Limitations
        • Its impact was more muted than expected, particularly in rural areas where intimidation continued as late as 1910 and not ll voters had faith in the system

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