Tag Archives: 1867 Reform Act

‘The power of returning our members will henceforth be in our own hands’: parliamentary reform and its impact on Exeter, 1820-1868

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Martin Spychal

This week Dr Martin Spychal, research fellow for the Commons 1832-68, uses polling and voter registration data to explore the 1832 Reform Act’s impact on elections in Exeter. This blog was originally published on the History of Parliament blog as … Continue reading →

Posted in Constituencies, Elections, party labels, Voting and Divisions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tackling electoral corruption: how Victorian Britain reformed the trial of election petitions in 1868

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the passing of the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act, an important part of the electoral reforms which had begun with the Second Reform Act of…

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The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Boundary Act. As Martin Spychal of the Commons 1832-68 Section discusses in today’s blog, the oft-neglected story of the Act provides several key insights…

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Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons for 2018

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

The Victorian Commons would like to wish all our readers a very Happy New Year. Before we resume blogging in 2018, we’d like to highlight some posts you may have missed in 2017. Our most popular post of 2017 looked … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (1825-1899)

Posted on November 30, 2017 by salmonphilip

Continuing our celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1867 Reform Act, November’s MP of the Month focuses on one of the most enigmatic figures in the reform crisis of 1866-67, the property-owning magnate and multi-millionaire Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, later … Continue reading →

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‘A woman actually voted!’: Lily Maxwell and the Manchester by-election of November 1867

Posted on November 26, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the casting of a parliamentary vote by Lily Maxwell, a Manchester shopkeeper, more than half a century before the partial enfranchisement of women in 1918. On 26 November 1867, at a by-election in Manchester, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

From draper’s apprentice to attorney-general: Sir John Rolt and the 1867 Reform Act

Posted on October 23, 2017 by sball1832

With this year marking the 150th anniversary of the passing of the Second Reform Act, our MP of the Month is one of the lesser known architects of this measure, the attorney-general, Sir John Rolt, who, as one contemporary noted, … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: John Tomlinson Hibbert (1824-1908)

Posted on August 29, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

This month marks the 150th anniversary of the passing of the 1867 Reform Act. Introduced by Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Derby’s Conservative government, it added around a million voters to the register, primarily in borough constituencies. This greatly exceeded the … Continue reading →

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Minority governments and major change: a Victorian view

Posted on June 12, 2017 by salmonphilip

For most modern commentators the prospects for minority governments, based on the experience of the last half century or so, don’t look particularly good. Nearly all the recent examples currently being revisited by analysts, such as those of the 1970s, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Parliamentary life | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘The only really important public service I performed’: John Stuart Mill’s women’s suffrage amendment, 20 May 1867

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month is John Stuart Mill (1806-73), who sat as Liberal MP for Westminster, 1865-8. One hundred and fifty years ago this week, the House of Commons voted for the first time on the question of granting … Continue reading →

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New publication: ‘The Second Reform Act and the problem of electoral corruption’

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

An article by our assistant editor, Kathryn Rix, on ‘The Second Reform Act and the problem of electoral corruption’ has just been published in a special issue of Parliamentary History, edited by Robert Saunders, and entitled ‘Shooting Niagara – and after?’ The … Continue reading →

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