Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain | |
|---|---|
.svg) Royal coat of arms of Great Britain, 1714–1800 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | House of Lords House of Commons |
| History | |
| Established | 1 May 1707 |
| Disbanded | 31 December 1800 |
| Preceded by | Parliament of England Parliament of Scotland |
| Succeeded by | Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Leadership | |
Lord Loughborough since 1793 | |
Henry Addington since 1789 | |
| Structure | |
 | |
House of Commons political groups | Final composition of the British House of Commons: 558 seats Tories: 424 seats Whigs: 95 seats Others: 39 seats |
| Elections | |
| Ennoblement bythe Sovereign or inheritance of apeerage | |
| First-past-the-post withlimited suffrage | |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Palace of Westminster, London | |
| Footnotes | |
| See also: Parliament of Ireland | |
| Parliaments of Great Britain |
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TheParliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of theActs of Union by both theParliament of England and theParliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unifiedKingdom of Great Britain and created the parliament of Great Britain located in the former home of the English parliament in thePalace of Westminster, near theCity of London. This lasted nearly a century, until theActs of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a singleParliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801.
Following theTreaty of Union in 1706,Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain.[1][2] The Acts paved the way for the enactment of the treaty of Union which created a new parliament, referred to as the 'Parliament of Great Britain', based in the home of the former English parliament. All of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, although there is no provision for this within the treaty; furthermore, the incumbent officers and members representing England comprised the overwhelming majority of the new body. It was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. WhileScots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament, with the exception of that pertaining to private right which could only legislated on for the "evident utility" of the people.[3] England'sde facto prominence in the new parliament was, and remains, a contentious issue.[citation needed]
After theHanoverianKing George I ascended the British throne in 1714 through theAct of Settlement of 1701, real power continued to shift away from the monarchy. George was aGerman ruler, spoke poor English, and remained interested in governing his dominions in continental Europe rather than in Britain. He thus entrusted power to a group of his ministers, the foremost of whom wasSir Robert Walpole, and by the end of his reign in 1727 the position of the ministers – who had to rely on Parliament for support – was cemented. George I's successor, his sonGeorge II, continued to follow through with his father's domestic policies and made little effort to re-establish monarchical control over the government which was now in firm control by Parliament. By the end of the 18th century the monarch still had considerable influence over Parliament, which was dominated by the English aristocracy, by means ofpatronage, but had ceased to exert direct power: for instance, the last occasion on whichroyal assent was withheld was in 1708 byQueen Anne, even this being done only at the request of her ministers.[4] Atgeneral elections the vote was restricted tofreeholders and landowners, in constituencies that had changed little since theMiddle Ages, so that in many"rotten" and "pocket" boroughs seats could be bought, while major cities remained unrepresented, except by theKnights of the Shire representing whole counties. Reformers andRadicals sought parliamentary reform, but as theFrench Revolutionary Wars developed the British government became repressive against dissent and progress towards reform was stalled.[citation needed]
George II's successor,George III, sought to restore royal supremacy and absolute monarchy, but by the end of his reign the position of the king's ministers – who discovered that they needed the support of Parliament to enact any major changes – had become central to the role of British governance, and would remain so ever after.[citation needed]
During the first half of George III's reign, the monarch still had considerable influence over Parliament, which itself was dominated by the patronage and influence of the English nobility. Most candidates for the House of Commons were identified asWhigs orTories, but once elected they formed shifting coalitions of interests rather than dividing along clear party lines. Atgeneral elections the vote was restricted in most places to property owners, in constituencies which were out of date and did not reflect the growing importance of manufacturing towns or shifts of population, so that in the rotten and pocket boroughs seats in parliament could be bought from the rich landowners who controlled them, while major cities remained unrepresented. Reformers likeWilliam Beckford andRadicals beginning withJohn Wilkes called for reform of the system. In 1780, a draft programme of reform was drawn up byCharles James Fox andThomas Brand Hollis and put forward by a sub-committee of the electors of Westminster. This included calls for the six points later adopted by theChartists.[citation needed]
TheAmerican War of Independence ended in defeat for a foreign policy that sought to prevent thethirteen American colonies from breaking away and forming theirown independent nation, something whichGeorge III had fervently advocated, and in March 1782 the king was forced to appoint an administration led by his opponents which sought to curb royal patronage. In November of 1783, he took the opportunity to use his influence in theHouse of Lords to defeat a bill to reform theHonourable East India Company, dismissed the government of the day, and appointedWilliam Pitt the Younger to form a new government. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, but he did not press for long for reforms the king did not like. Proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the "rotten boroughs" to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174.[citation needed]
In the wake of theFrench Revolution of 1789,Radical organisations such as theLondon Corresponding Society sprang up to press for parliamentary reform, but as theFrench Revolutionary Wars developed the government took extensive repressive measures against feared domestic unrest aping the democratic and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution and progress toward reform was stalled for decades.[citation needed]
In 1801, theParliament of the United Kingdom was created when theKingdom of Great Britain was united with theKingdom of Ireland to become theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under theActs of Union 1800.[citation needed]
Monmouthshire (One County constituency with two members and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.
Table 1: Constituencies and Members, by type and country, in 1801[5][6][7]
| Country | BC | CC | UC | Total C | BMP | CMP | UMP | Total Members | Population (1801) | People per MP (1801) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England | 202 | 39 | 2 | 243 | 404 | 78 | 4 | 486 | 8,350,859 | ~17,182 |
| Wales | 13 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 27 | 541,677 | ~20,062 |
 Scotland | 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 | 1,608,420 | ~35,724 |
| Total | 230 | 82 | 2 | 314 | 432 | 122 | 4 | 558 | 10.5 million | ~18,819 |
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country, in 1801
| Country | BC×1 | BC×2 | BC×4 | CC×1 | CC×2 | UC×2 | Total C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 4 | 196 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 243 |
| Wales | 13 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Scotland | 15 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| Total | 32 | 196 | 2 | 42 | 40 | 2 | 314 |
_-_Queen_Anne_(1665-1714)_in_the_House_of_Lords_-_RCIN_405301_-_Royal_Collection.jpg)
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| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Parliament of Great Britain 1707–1800 | Succeeded by |
51°29′57″N00°07′29″W / 51.49917°N 0.12472°W /51.49917; -0.12472
