The 1867 Reform Act was the second major attempt to reform Britain’s electoral process. By this time, party names had changed. The Tories were now called the Conservative Party, and the Whigs changed their name to the Liberal Party. It was the Conservatives under Benjamin Disraeli who promoted the Second Reform Act, believing that it would help to win the support of the middle classes.
The 1867 Reform Act gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency. Male lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms were also granted the vote. Fifty-two seats were redistributed from small towns with populations less than 10,000 to the growing industrial towns or counties. This gave the vote to about 1,500,000 men.
Though the Second Reform Act gave voting power to more people, Disraeli had miscalculated its effect. In the next election in 1868, the Liberal Party defeated the Conservative Party, and came to power.