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Why was there an increasing demand for parliamentary reform from 19 century
During the 18th Century there had been some significant changes to the lives of the ordinary working class as a result of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. In 1700 98% of the population lived in the countryside and small villages. But by 1800 98% of peasant farmers had been evicted from their land as a result of ‘enclosure’. However before the Great Reform Act of 1832 the King and wealthy landowners dominated Parliament and they were unlikely to introduce laws to help working people. In the countryside only men above the age of 21 who owned land above the value of 40 shillings were able to vote. The sum of 40 shillings had been fixed back in 1430. Although inflation meant that the number of people who voted went up, by 1831 only 5% of the population had the vote.
In some parts of the country local landowners had control over electors. The landowners were able to instruct local residents to vote for the candidates of the landowner’s choice. These were called ‘Rotten Boroughs’, Old Sarum was a Rotten Borough and in places like this there were very few voters, which made it much easier for the landowners to get their candidate elected. In 1802 one elector elected a man called Sir Phillip Francis as Member of Parliament for Appleby. He wrote the following paragraph on his victory:
’The fact is that yesterday morning between 11 and 12, I was unanimously elected by one Elector, to represent this borough in Parliament. There was no other candidate, no opposition, no Poll demanded, scrutiny or petition.’
About 270 Members of Parliament were controlled like this. Because their success was owed to their ‘patron’, they supported his interests in votes in the House of Commons. They would vote against any measures, which would weaken their wealth and influence.
Some constituencies like Old Sarum, Bossiney and Dunwich had very few voters. On the other hand many of the industrial towns like Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester had no Members of Parliament. In 1791 Thomas Paine wrote this passage about the unfairness of this in the ‘Rights of Man’:
‘The county of Yorkshire which contains near a million souls, sends two county members and so does the county of Rutland, which contains not a hundredth part of that number. The town of Old Sarum, which contains not three houses, sends two members; and the town of Manchester which contains upwards of sixty thousand souls, is not admitted to send any. Is there a principle in these things.’
The Great Reform Act of 1832 was an attempt to improve how Parliament was elected. People also wanted to improve the way in which the country was governed. The power of the wealthy landowners and the King needed to be reduced. People decided that if the vote was given to more of the working class then the Members of Parliament would listen [next page]