How Democratic was Britain by 1915 What

How Democratic was Britain by 1915?

What Makes a Democracy? n Universal or near universal suffrage n A Secret Ballot n Equal or near equal constituencies/ fair distribution of seats n Anyone able to stand as an MP n No all powerful constitutional body- e. g. House of Lords n Access to information through the press

How Democratic was Britain pre-1867? n Suffrage- only 7% of men had the vote, working classes and women were excluded from voting n Secrecy- voting took place at the hustings- Bribery, corruption and intimidation were commonplace n Distribution of seats- remained unequal. MPs still represented county and borough seats with great variations in size of population n Who can stand as an MP? - Only wealthy men could stand as candidates as there was a property qualification and MPs were not paid a salary n Powerful constitutional bodies- The Tory dominated House of Lords was not elected. It could stop the elected majority in the House of Commons passing bills through parliament

Key Dates n 1867 - Second Reform Act n 1872 - Secret Ballot Act n 1883 - Corrupt and Illegal practices Act n 1884 - Third Reform Act n 1885 - Redistribution Act n 1911 - House of Lords Reform- Parliament Act n 1918 - Fourth Reform Act (not on the course but still worth knowing about)

Reforms to Increase Suffrage 1867 Reform Act n Effects of the Act ¨ The number of men who qualified for the vote increased from 1. 5 to 2. 5 million ¨ 1 in 3 adult males could not vote (up from 1 in 7 previously)- 16% of the adult population could now vote ¨ The franchise was extended to skilled, male town workers (urban) and well off farmers ¨ The electorate in some of Britain’s newer towns increased dramatically ¨ The largest increases in the number of voters were in the large industrial boroughs n Criticisms of the Act ¨ Many rural working class men and miners, due to the high property qualification, were still not entitled to vote ¨ Women still could not vote in General elections ¨ The right to vote was still based on ownership of property ¨ There was still no secret ballot- bribery, corruption and intimidation were rife n Historians on the Act ¨ John Davis “for many years it was believed that the SRA brought something close to universal adult male suffrage in urban Britain”- this of course is highly debateable ¨ Lee “Disraeli was the victim of circumstance. A Tory Bill had to be distinct from Gladstone’s bill of 1866 and so it became more radical as a consequence”- arguing there was never any real intention to achieve ‘democracy’ through the bill

Reforms to Increase Suffrage (2) 1884 Reform Act n Effects of the Act ¨ ¨ n Criticisms of the Act ¨ ¨ ¨ n The number of men who qualified for the vote was increased from 2. 5 to 5 million 2 in 3 adult males could now vote (60%) 29% of the adult population now had the vote Voting qualification in the boroughs and counties were now identical Many working class men (40% of adult males in Britain) were still not entitled to the vote Women still could not vote in general elections The right to vote was still based on ownership of property Plural voting existed- this meant a man could have many votes if he owned property in different constituencies Universities still elected members of parliament Historians on the Act ¨ ¨ G. D. H Cole and Raymond acknowledge that “by 1884, the franchise had ceased at last… to be a class privilege”- perhaps for the middle classes, but by and large many working class men were still not entitled to vote D. G. Wright argued “By modern standards, Victorian democracy was undemocratic. Although the democratic principle had been accepted in 1867, one man, one-vote never existed in Victorian Britain, even after the Third Reform Act”- takes the one man, one-vote principle as being key to democracy

Summary of Suffrage by 1915 n n 60% of adult men had the vote (40%- many of the working classes did not) Women did not have the vote. Roughly 30% of the population had the vote by 1900

Reforms to tackle Corruption and Bribery 1872 Secret Ballot Act n Effects of the Act Made voting secret ¨ Stopped the spread of Bribery and eliminated most overt intimidation ¨ n Criticisms of the Act Where corruption was established it persisted; voters were lured through other means such as free coal or groceries ¨ After 1872, payment for votes became more widespread- some voters even accepting payment from two candidates ¨

Reforms to tackle Corruption and Bribery 1883 Corrupt and Illegal practices Act n Effects of the Act Placed strict limits on the quantity and purpose of candidates’ expenditure Candidates expense after 1883 never reached £ 1 million again before the end of the century and only reached their 1880 level again in 1974 ¨ The number of petitions questioning election outcomes fell from an average of 67 per election between 1832 -1880 to 9 during 1885 -1910 ¨ The number of elections declared void fell from 13 to 3 ¨ All but eliminated corrupt election practices ¨ ¨ n Historians on the Act ¨ Matt Cole “The culture of voting changed from one of a resented privilege which could be offered for sale to that of a common right exercised privately”

Wider Social Factors Wider social factors influencing the decline in corruption and intimidation Over the period post 1867, it is argued, that Britain accustomed itself to the notion of democracy British society in general, perhaps due to the expanding middle class, became more respectable and ‘friendlier’ A more general societal switch towards democratic processes occurred alongside parliamentary reform

Summary of Corruption and Bribery by 1915 Voting took place in private. Bribery and corruption had all but been eradicated

Reform to tackle the unequal distribution of parliamentary seats 1885 redistribution Act n Effects of the Act Ended the over-representation of counties and the South and West (moving with the timeseconomy switching from agriculture to industry) : London gained 37 seats, Lancashire gained 44 whilst Cornwall lost 37 seats ¨ Overall the ratio of most to least populous constituency dropped from 252: 1 to 8: 1 ¨ n Criticisms of the Act ¨ ¨ n Despite a gain in seats in Glasgow, overall Scotland still remained underrepresented Conservative influence upon the act arguably makes it a measure designed to benefit them rather than to instil democracy- by guaranteeing their representation in expanding suburban areas in which ‘Villa Toryism (wider social trend- increasing middle-class who were inclined to vote Conservative) thrived Historians on the Act ¨ Matt Cole “the Act of 1885 was a democratic measure because it achieved much more closely the old Chartist objective of equal electoral districts”- note: democratic measure as opposed to actually instilling democracy

Summary of Redistribution by 1900 Remained unequal, but only to a small extent. The overrepresentation of the counties and South and West had been ended

Constitutional Reform n Another exam question may be: ¨ “To what extent did parliamentary and constitutional reform in the period 18651915 make Britain a democracy? ” n Therefore we must also consider the Parliament Act of 1911

Constitutional Reform (2) Parliament Act 1911 n Previous to the reform Unelected Lords, often with vested interests, had the power to block bills that had passed the democratically elected House of Commons ¨ MPs had not been paid- meaning that politics had become the preserve of the rich (upper and later on middle classes)- workers were underrepresented ¨ n Effects of the reform ¨ ¨ ¨ The Lords only had to power to veto a bill three times before it had to be passed General elections had to be held within five years instead of seven MPs were paid a wage- this meant that working men could now afford to stand as MPs and arguably made government more democratic as a result

Summary of Constitutional Reform n The introduction of a wage for MPs had meant that politics was no longer the preserve of the rich n The unelected House of Lords remained. However it’s power had been reduced- could only block bills three times now. Overall ‘supremacy’ had shifted to the commons

Access to information n Although not constitutional/parliamentary the growth of access to information is an important factor in assessing whether Britain was a democracy n Throughout the 1880 s and 1890 s there was a growth in national newspapers and improved links of communication meant that politics became widespread as opposed to its previous localised state. n This made the government much more accountable to the people and so saw a change from government to suit local interests to government to serve the people

How democratic was Britain by 1915? n Activity- create and fill in the table (as a brief summary) from what you have learnt- this will help when planning an essay 1867 Suffrage Distribution of seats Corruption Constitution 1915