Reform of Parliament

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  • Created by: mayacm456
  • Created on: 20-03-23 18:40
What two types of constituencies were there in 1780?
county and borough
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who could vote in a county franchise?
anyone with a freehold of land worth 40 shillings or more
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what is a constituency?
a section of the country which elects MPs
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what were 'scot and lot' boroughs?
where people could vote is they made a payment of a share into a local poor tax fund
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What were burgage boroughs?
the right of vote was only given to people who owned specific pieces of land in the area. A wealthy man could buy all this land and choose all the MPs
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what were 'potwalloper' boroughs?
a person could vote if they owned their own hearth to boil a pot to feed themselves.
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what was a freeman borough?
anyone who had the status of being a 'freeman' could vote, which was obtained by marriage, inheritance, purchase or nomination
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what was a corporation borough?
where the local corporation that ran the town appointed the MP w/o holding an election. These areas often ignored what local people wanted. Some did not even bother renewing their MP at elections.
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what universities were given MPs?
Oxford + Cambridge. They were given 2 MPs each. Only uni graduates could vote.
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what percent of constituencies never held elections?
40%
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what was a pocket borough?
a constituency which was controlled by one person, usually a landowner.
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what was a rotten borough?
a constituency with few or no voters but that still had an MP. these boroughs could be bought to gain influence
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What did the Great Reform Act do?
-made uniform rules for voting. boroughs- med owning or occupying properties valued at £10
-those in counties who had previously voted under 40 shillings franchises kept the vote
-voters had to register formally
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What percent of men could vote after the Great Reform Act?
20%
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What pressure was there to pass the Great Reform Act?
-end of Napoleonic wars revitalised demand for reform
-growth of political unions added to political pressure
-economic depression 1829-39 created national discontent and riots in the countryside
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What was the Representation of the People Act 1867?
-extended vote in boroughs to householders and lodgers who had been resident for at least 12 months
- more landowners and tenant farmers registered to vote in counties
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What percent of men could vote after the 1867 RoPA?
30%
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What was the pressure to pass the 1867 RoPA?
-new leader Russell thought 'respectable w/c' deserved the vote
-conservatives saw bill as a way to gain political advantage
-external pressure such as demonstration in Hyde Park which led to violence and vandalism as well as protest in industrial towns
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What was the RoPA 1884?
-property qualification standardised btwn boroughs and counties, so that poor labourers and tenant farmers had the £10 qualification
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What percent of men could vote after the 1884 RoPA?
67%
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What pressure was there to pass the 1884 RoPA?
-Gladstone believed that if urban w/c could vote, so should rural w/c
-Salisbury, conservative leader, was anti-reform but saw that it was better to control the inevitable change than be left behind
-extra-parliamentary pressure not feature of this act
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What was the 1918 RoPA?
-gave vote to all adult males over 21, or 18 for war veterans, with 6 month residence qualification instead of 12
-women over 30 could vote if they were householders or had a husband who could vote
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What percent of men could vote after the 1918 RoPA?
100%
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What % of women could vote after the 1918 RoPA?
57%
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What pressure was there to pass the 1918 RoPA?
-fear of suffragette militarism
-strong support of Lloyd George as PM
-increased influence of TU and Labour Party
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What was the 1928 RoPA?
-gave all men and women the vote
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What pressure was there to pass the 1928 RoPA?
-1919 Sex Disqualification Removal Act made inequality in employment illegal, allowing women to get professional jobs like barristers
-increased role of Labour Party in 1920's politics, with their manifesto of social equality
-the NUWSS became the NUSEC f
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What was the population of Manchester in 1830?
144,000
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Why did Pitt's proposal fail? (2)
-opposition from the borough property owners
-Pitts political rival, Fox
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When did PM Pitt propose reforms to the constitution?
1785
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What were Pitt's proposals? (3)
-removal of 36 small boroughs and to redistribute their seats to cities and counties
-to use £1 mil to compensate borough property owners who would lose their political influence
-to extend the 40 shilling franchise in counties to renters a.w.a property o
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How did the Great Reform Act change representation?
-56 overrepresented seats removed, inc Old Sarum
-some boroughs lost 1 of their 2 MPs
-rebalancing of seats
-elections became more competitive
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How many overrepresented seats were removed due to the Great Reform Act?
56
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How many new constituencies were created due to the Great Reform Act?
-22 with 2 new MPs e.g Manchester
-20 with one MP each e.g Rochdale
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How did representation change due to the 1867 RoPA?
-only done to keep conservatives in power, not to reform system
-constituencies further reorganised
-38 boroughs lost one MP, 4 lost both, 45 given to underrepresented constituencies, 25 given to counties to strengthen landed interests
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What was problems still existed after the Great Reform Act? (3)
the south overrepresented, 70 pocket boroughs, still seats with only 300 voters
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What problems still existed after the 1867 RoPA? (2)
constituencies still did not have equal no. voters, hustings open to corruption and influence of landowners
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When was the Secret Ballot Act?
1872
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What did the Secret Ballot Act do?
removed landowners influences as ppl could vote in secret
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Where did the Secret Ballot Act cause representation to particularly change?
Ireland b/c tenants could vote w/o their English landlords knowledge, contributing to the Irish Home Rule movt.
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What still remained after the Secret Ballot Act?
Bribery
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When was the Corrupt Practices Act?
-limited amount of money that could be spent on elections
-rules on providing food and drink to bribe ppl
-records of spending had to be kept
-fines for those who broke the rules
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When was the Redistribution of Seats Act?
1885
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What did the Redistribution of Seats Act involve?
-boroughs with fewer than 15,000 voters lost both MPs, while any with fewer than 50,000 lost one.
-most constituencies now had a single MP
-Boundaries moved to make constituencies with similar pop. sizes
-Boundary Commission set up
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What was did the Redistribution of Seats Act set up and what did it do?
a Boundary Commission was set up to redraw boundaries in case of pop. changes
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What effect did the Redistribution of Seats Act have?
constituencies became distinctly rural or urban, serving to protect and strengthen Conservative voters. It gave seats to Tories which had previously been lost- 'Villa Toryism', through the creation of wealthy suburban constituencies
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What affect did the RoPA 1918 have on representation?
-further equalized size of constituencies by removing smallest constituencies. one impact was to create more suburban, m/c constituencies in large cities w/o w/c inner city areas, thereby increasing Conservative votes.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

who could vote in a county franchise?

Back

anyone with a freehold of land worth 40 shillings or more

Card 3

Front

what is a constituency?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what were 'scot and lot' boroughs?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What were burgage boroughs?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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