1. Reforms 1867 – 1928 which brought Britain closer to Democracy

2. SECOND REFORM ACT 1867 ELECTORATE CHANGES IN VOTING
Electorate doubled from 1,120,000 voters to 2.5 million
1 in 3 men could vote (instead of 1 in 7)
Gave working class men in towns the vote for the first time
Who could vote?
Boroughs - All householders who paid and had lived in the
(towns) property for at least 1 year
- Lodgers paying £10 a year
Counties - Owners of property valued at £5 for rates
(rural) Tenants of property valued at £12 for rates
OTHER CHANGES (representation)
Constituencies & boroughs less than 10,000 lost MP
45 seats redistributed to towns 

3. LIMITATIONS TO VOTING
 No women
Did not change the balance of political power (wealthy)
 Right to vote still based on property
 Electorate still remained mainly: middle classes, shopkeepers, skilled workers, landowners, tenant farmers, householder and local tradesmen
Only relatively small number working class skilled men given vote
OTHER LIMITATIONS
MPs unevenly distributed - highly populated industrial areas seriously underrepresented
STEPS TO DEMOCRACY
Electorate increased (dramatically in newer towns)
Parties had to organise – fewer independent MPs - party organisations set up in major towns to canvass voters
ELECTORATE

4. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1884
ELECTORATE
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1884
Terms
Voting qualifications same in counties and boroughs
Effect
Electorate doubled from 2.5 million to 5 million
England and Wales 2 out of 3 had the vote
  Limitations
Much of working class still did not have the vote
Right to vote still linked to complex rules of property qualification
12% of adult male population could not vote - live in servants, sons living at home, soldiers, paupers
Women did not have the vote
1913 only 63% males registered to vote
Plural voting existed in 1911 this accounted for 7% of electorate

5. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1918
ELECTORATE
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1918
Terms
Vote give to all adult males who had 6 month residence qualification
Vote give to women over 30 if they were householders, married to householder or University graduate
Voting to take place on same day not over several weeks
Constituencies reorganised to represent 70,000 people
Effects
Simplified voting qualifications
Now 21 million voters instead of 7
8.5 million women given the vote
Industrial working class were now the majority of the electorate This helped to increase support for Labour Party
Distinction between county and borough ended
All constituencies single member

6. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1918
ELECTORATE
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1918
Limitations
22% of women over 30 excluded from vote
Did not create system of 1 person 1 vote (7% of population had plural vote)
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1928
Terms
All women over 21 given vote on same terms as men

7. Before 1872 BALLOT ACT 1872 CORRUPTION Voting in public
Bribery during elections was rife
Political parties argued voting was a ‘privilege’ and ‘responsibility’ to be carried out in public

8. Terms (under Gladstone’s Liberal Govt)
CORRUPTION
BALLOT ACT 1872
Terms (under Gladstone’s Liberal Govt)
Introduced a secret ballot (hustings replaced with polling booths)
Effect
Intimidation of voters declined – made difference in areas were there were a lot of voters
Corruption not completely wiped out

9. CORRUPT AND ILLEGAL PRACTICES ACT 1883
CORRUPTION
Terms (Gladstone’s Liberal Govt)
Candidates’ election expenses determined by size of constituency
Election expenses published
Limit to what campaign money could be spent on
Election agents had to account for their spending
Involvement in corruption punished by a fine or imprisonment and disqualification as an MP for 7 years
Effect of 2 Acts
thorough and effective, corruption almost entirely wiped out

10. REDISTRIBUTION OF SEATS ACT 1885
REPRESENTATION
REDISTRIBUTION OF SEATS ACT 1885
 Aimed to make all constituencies equal
Terms
Total number of MPs increased from 652 to 670 (72 Scotland - increase)
 Majority of constituencies now had only 1 MP
 Boundaries redrawn so that most constituencies had an approximate population of 50,000
Effect
Moved Britain closer to democracy - close to the ‘modern’ system used today
Power of landlords reduced
South England no longer over represented
Industrial north gained more seats
Limits
some 2 member constituencies & university seats remained

11. CHANGING NATURE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
REPRESENTATION - POLITICAL PARTIES
Creation of Labour Party 1900
Liberals and Conservative not sympathetic to needs of working class
rise due to decline of Liberals, IWW?
increase in electorate = need for working class representation
however, until 1911 there are too few working class MPs
Changes in Parties
campaigns (end of corruption)
National and local organisation - HQs, full time paid staff
Organised campaigns - manifestos - need to address needs of whole country

12. Before 1911 BALANCE OF POWER PARLIAMENT ACT 1911
Unelected House of Lords had considerable power
Blocked legislation of House of Commons - esp Liberal legislation

13. BALANCE OF POWER
PARLIAMENT ACT 1911
Terms / Effect
Limited powers of the House of Lords
No longer able to stop bills to do with taxation or government spending
Power to amend or reject other bills (only for 2 parliamentary sessions)
General election every 5 years
Provided payment of MPs (see next slide)

14. BALANCE OR POWER PAYMENT OF MPs 1911 Terms Effect
Established a salary of £400 a year for MPs
Effect
Gives everybody the right and equal chance to become a representative
increase number of working class MPs

15. New printing technologies & libraries Development of railways
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
OTHER FACTORS
Literacy important so people can understand and access information on which to base their choices. Important in this development were…
Education
Education Acts 1870/1872 Scotland, more people could understand and access information
New printing technologies & libraries
Development of railways
Improved communication
Meant campaigns had to be national
National newspapers
Spread news much easier
Made it easier for common man to be aware of politics