TheReform Acts (orReform Bills, before they were passed) arelegislation enacted in theUnited Kingdom in the 19th and 20th century toenfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in theHouse of Commons of theParliament of the United Kingdom. Whenshort titles were introduced for these acts, they were usuallyRepresentation of the People Act.
These began with theReform Act 1832,Reform Act 1867, and theRepresentation of the People Act 1884, to increase the electorate for the House of Commons and remove certain inequalities in representation. Thebill of 1832 disfranchised manyboroughs which enjoyed undue representation and increased that of the large towns, at the same time extending the franchise. It was put through Parliament by theWhigs. The bill of 1867 was passed by theConservatives under the urging of theLiberals, while that of 1882 was introduced by the Liberals and passed in 1884. These latter two bills provided for a more democratic representation.
Following theFirst World War, theReform Act 1918 was enacted withcross-party unanimity. It enfranchised all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30. Ten years later, theReform Act 1928, passed by the Conservatives, resulted inuniversal suffrage with avoting age of 21. In 1969, the United Kingdom became the first major democratic country to lower its age of franchise to 18 in theReform Act 1969 passed by theLabour government.
Internationally, the Parliament of the United Kingdom and itsWestminster system played a "vanguard role" withworldwide influence on the spread of democracy, thus it is often known as "The mother of parliaments".
In theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, before 1832, fewer than one adult male in ten was eligible to vote in parliamentary elections.[1] Moreover, the franchise varied a great deal between England (which included Wales), where it was wider, and Scotland and Ireland, where it was narrower.[2][3] A few boroughs gave the vote to all male householders, but many parliamentary seats were under the control of a small group or sometimes a single rich aristocrat. Reforms had been proposed in the 18th century, both by radicals such asJohn Wilkes and by more conservative politicians such asWilliam Pitt the Younger. However, there was strong opposition to reform, especially after the outbreak of theFrench Revolution (1789–1799). The cause was continued after 1792 by theLondon Corresponding Society.
Eventually, the parliamentary franchise was expanded and made more uniform through a series of Reform Acts beginning with theGreat Reform Act in 1832.[4] These acts extended voting rights to previouslydisenfranchised citizens. Sources refer to up to six "Reform Acts",[5][6][7] although the earlier three in 1832, 1867/68 and 1884, are better known by this name.[note 1] Some other acts related to electoral matters also became known as Reform Acts.[12][13]
The following Acts of Parliament are known as Reform Acts:[note 2]
There are many otherelectoral reform Acts that changed theelectoral system in the United Kingdom.[note 3] Such legislation typically used "Representation of the People Act" as theshort title, by which name the 1918, 1928 and other acts in the 20th century are better known.[21][22][23] The title Representation of the People Act was adopted in other countries of, or formerly part of, theBritish Empire through the spread of theWestminster parliamentary system.[24][25][26] TheParliament of the United Kingdom played a "vanguard role" withworldwide influence on the spread of democracy, thus it is often known as "the mother of parliaments".[27]
The Reform Act 1832 for England and Wales was the most controversial of the electoral reform acts passed by the Parliament. Similar acts were passed the same yearfor Scotland, and Ireland. They were put through Parliament by theWhigs. The acts reapportioned Parliament in a way fairer to the cities of the old industrial north, which had experienced tremendous growth. The act also did away with most of the"rotten" and "pocket" boroughs such asOld Sarum, which with only seven voters, all controlled by the local squire, was still sending two members to Parliament. This act re-apportioned representation in Parliament, thus making that body more accurately represent the citizens of the country geographically (although still with no party-proportional balance), but also gave the power of voting to those lower in the social and economic scale, for the act extended the right to vote (in the boroughs) to any long-term holders of tenements of at least £10 annual value, adding 217,000 voters to an electorate of 435,000. Annual value here refers to the income that the land could be expected to earn if let, in a year.[28] As many as one man in five, though by some estimates still only one in seven, now had the right to vote.[1]
The agitation preceding and following the First Reform Act made many people consider fundamental issues of society and politics. The bill allowed the middle classes to share power with the upper classes; for manyconservatives, this was revolutionary. Some historians argue that this transfer of power achieved in Britain and Ireland what theFrench Revolution of 1848 eventually achieved in France.
Charles Dickens observed these events at first hand as a shorthand Parliamentary reporter. The novelMiddlemarch, by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) is set in the 1830s and mentions the struggle over the Reform Bills, though not as a major topic. Eliot'sFelix Holt, the Radical, set in 1832, is a novel explicitly about the Great Reform Act.
TheChartists campaigned from 1838 for a wider reform. The movement petered out in the 1850s, but achieved most of its demands in the longer run. Legislative bills were introduced by theConservatives under the urging of theLiberals. The 1867/8 acts for England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland extended the right to vote still further down the class ladder. In England and Wales, the reforms added just short of a million voters, including many workingmen, which doubled the electorate to almost two million.[1]
Like the Great Reform Act before it, the Second Reform Act also created major shock waves in contemporary British culture. In works such asMatthew Arnold'sCulture and Anarchy andJohn Ruskin'sThe Crown of Wild Olive, contemporary authors debated whether the shift of power would create democracy that would, in turn, destroy high culture.
A further Reform Bill was introduced in 1882 by the Liberals. The Conservative-dominated Lords passed it in 1884, opening the way for its royal proclamation, becoming the Third Reform Act. It was the first electoral reform act to apply to the United Kingdom as a whole. Only with this act did a majority of adult males gain the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Along with the Redistribution Act 1885, this tripled the electorate again, giving the vote to most agricultural labourers. (Women were still barred from voting.)[1]
By the end of the 19th century and in they early 20th century, voting was coming to be regarded as a right rather than the property of the privileged but theFirst World War delayed further reforms. After the War, women were granted voting rights withcross-party unanimity in theAct of 1918, the Fourth Reform Act, which enfranchised all men aged over 21 and women over 30. This last piece of gender discrimination was eliminated 10 years later by theEqual Franchise Act 1928, the Fifth Reform Act, passed by the Conservatives.[1]
Thevoting age was lowered in 1969 by theLabour government in theSixth Reform Act, making Britain the first major democratic nation to extend voting rights to all adults aged 18 or over.[29][30][31]
The periodic redrawing of constituency boundaries is now dealt with by a permanentBoundary Commission in each part of the United Kingdom, rather than a Reform Act.[32]
Some people in Britain, mostly associated with theLiberal Democrats political party, have called for a new "Great Reform Act" to introduce electoral changes they favour. These would include lowering the minimum voting age to 16 and introducingproportional representation, which are also supported by theGreen Party of England and Wales.[33][34][35][36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Create one of the following charts for each of the six Reform Acts
1969-sixth-reform-act
Act of 1969 (also known as the Sixth Reform Act)
Westminster's vanguard role in providing a global model of democracy as the 'Mother of Parliaments'
Our starting point is placement of the 1969 Act within the context of previous reforms of the age of enfranchisement since the Great Reform Act of 1832.
'Votes at 18' was the last major extension of the UK franchise and is therefore an important element of the history of UK democracy from the 1832 Great Reform Act onwards.