Tag Archives: corruption

Online event marking the 150th anniversary of the Ballot Act

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

Join the History of Parliament Trust and the Parliamentary Archives on 18 July 2022 in an online event marking the passing of the 1872 Ballot Act, 150 years ago. UPDATE: This event was recorded and can now be viewed here. … Continue reading →

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190th Anniversary of the 1832 Reform Act

Posted on June 7, 2022 by salmonphilip

For a 20 minute talk about the Reform Act by Dr Philip Salmon please click here. This month marks the 190th anniversary of the passing of the 1832 Reform Act, one of the iconic milestones in modern British political history. … Continue reading →

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

The power of the (silk) purse: electioneering in nineteenth-century Macclesfield

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

This blog originally appeared on the main History of Parliament blog as part of its Local History series. One of the most significant aspects of the 1832 Reform Act was its redrawing of the electoral map, taking seats away from … Continue reading →

Posted in Constituencies, Corruption, Elections | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Elected without his consent: William Wilshere (1804-67) and the venal electors of Great Yarmouth

Posted on December 16, 2020 by salmonphilip

The huge financial cost of Victorian elections, especially in venal constituencies, has been a recurrent theme in some of our more recent blogs. It’s tempting to think of the MPs associated with bribery, treating and other forms of electoral corruption … Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, Images of MPs, MP of the Month | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Corruption at elections in Britain in the 19th century

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Following on from Martin Spychal’s blog about the paper he gave at last month’s ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption?’ conference, organised jointly by Oxford Brookes and Newman Universities, we hear from our assistant editor Kathryn Rix. She gave … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences and seminars, Corruption, Elections | Tagged , , , , | 8 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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Call for papers: ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption? Public Life and Public Service in Britain, c. 1780–1940’

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Our assistant editor, Kathryn Rix, will be one of the keynote speakers at a 2 day conference entitled ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption? Public Life and Public Service in Britain, c. 1780–1940’, to be held at Oxford Brookes … 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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MP of the month: James Barlow Hoy (1794-1843)

Posted on September 28, 2016 by salmonphilip

As biographies of long-forgotten politicians go, this month’s MP ticks all the boxes, offering an extraordinary rags-to-riches tale, the beginnings of a brilliant political career accompanied by fraud and bankruptcy, and even an allegation of murder. Hoy, or Barlow as … Continue reading →

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‘He has wasted all the affections of my poor heart’: Jane Welsh Carlyle and George Rennie MP

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Kathryn Rix

Two years ago our Valentine’s Day blog featured the youthful romance between Jane Austen and Thomas Lefroy. Austen had died long before Lefroy entered the House of Commons in 1830 as MP for Dublin University. In today’s blog, we look … Continue reading →

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