My Science School

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. 

The First Reform Act of 1832 was one of the most important changes in the history of British politics. It was necessary because the electoral system had remained virtually unchanged since the late 1680's, while the country's economy, class system, and political methods had changed immeasurably in that time.

The Industrial Revolution had created a new economy and caused the emergence of new cities such as Manchester and Birmingham, where the new factories were centred. However, according to the old electoral system of 1682, these new towns had no political representation.

 Moreover, the vote was only open to landowners, meaning that almost 95 percent of the population had no say in political matters. The vote was done in an open vote, a process that led to corruption.

 When the Whigs came to power in 1829, they were aware of the level of discontent in the country as a whole, and wanted to enact a moderate reform that would make the system fairer. So, the First Reform Act was passed in which six small boroughs lost both their seats, and another thirty lost a seat each. The seats gained in this way were redistributed among the new boroughs. In addition to landlords, leaseholders and householders paying more than a minimum specified amount were also eligible to vote. As a result, more people got the right to vote.

 

 Till 1778, the common man did not know much about what happened inside parliament. However, that changed when journalists were allowed into the House of Commons in 1778. From 1783, newspapers began to print reports of the debates in parliament. This was a very important development, as Englishmen could now know what exactly their lawmakers were up to. If they read that parliament was not acting in their best interests, they could complain and take action. Parliament thus became   more responsible to the people, and the newspapers also became more powerful as they played a role in moulding public opinion. 

George III ascended the throne in 1760, upon the sudden death of his grandfather, Georg II. He was a member of the House of Hanover, a noble German family that succeeded to the British throne in 1714. George wanted to play an active role in the government- and he wanted to get rid of the Whigs, who had become very corrupt. The Tory party, after an Long exile from power, was now rapidly gaining ground. George III took advantage of these conditions, and, putting himself at the head of the Tories, attempted to become the real master in English politics. He chose new ministers- but soon found that he needed the support of the House of Commons to carry out his policies. To get this support, he had to bribe the members- and so finally, George III, who wanted to fight corruption, ended up by using bribery and corruption to get what he wanted! In fact, in the purchase of seats in the Commons for his favorites he outdid the Whigs in the worst days of their corruption.

      In England, the king always had a small body of advisors or a council to help him to carry out his duties. This was known as the Privy Council. During the reign of Queen Anne, a new council emerged. It consisted of a group of men each of whom was entrusted with the responsibility of running one of the government departments. This was called the Cabinet Council. The Cabinet Council became the real source of power as time passed and it is the fore runner of the modern cabinet.

      On 12 June 1701, the English Parliament passed an act to lay down the conditions for the succession to the throne of Great Britain. This has often been called the Act of Settlement or the Act of Settlement 1701. It was also extended to cover Scotland. Do you know why this act was passed?

            William III and Mary II had ruled England as joint sovereigns. Then Mary II died without any children, and William III did not marry again until he died. The throne of England went to Mary’s sister Anne, who also did not have any heirs. Consequently, a new law was needed to make sure that the throne would continue to have a Protestant reign after Anne.

            This was the background under which Parliament passed The Act of Settlement in 1701. The act laid down the conditions under which alone the crown could be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a Roman Catholic, could hold the English Crown. The sovereign also had to swear to maintain the Church of England. The purpose of the Act was to ensure the Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the parliament system of government.

 In 1688, parliament brought about the deposition of James II, and invited William III and Mary II of Orange to the English throne as joint sovereigns. This is known as the Glorious or Bloodless Revolution. After this revolution, Parliament became very powerful, but the monarch could still reject legislation brought up by parliament by exercising what was called the royal veto. The word 'veto' is Latin for 'I forbid' and William used it on four occasions. Although, in theory, the royal veto still exists, it was used for the last time in 1708, by Queen Anne.

 

 The history of the civil list dates from the reign of William and Mary in 18th century England. Before this, there had been no distinction between the expenses of government in time of peace and the personal expenses of the king. The civil list is the grant made by parliament for the monarch's personal support, and for that of the royal household.

 The custom of the Civil List dates to 1689, when Parliament, on the accession of William and Mary, voted £600,000 specifically for civil expenses. Through the first Civil List Act in 1697, revenues estimated to yield about £700,000 were assigned to the monarch to cover the royal expenses. The amount was to be used for the payment of government officials, and the up-keep of the royal house.

 At first, the Civil List was revised from time to time. Later, during the reign of George I, the Civil List became a fixed sum, with Parliament paying any debts that were incurred. The Civil List assured a permanent income for the monarch- and at the same time, it ensured that a king could not rule without the help and support of the parliament.

Charles I went to war against the parliament in 1642, and England was plunged into a Civil War for the next three years. The parliamentary army of about 14,000, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, defeated about 8,000 Royalists, commanded by King Charles I, near the North amptonshire village of Naseby. The Royalists lost nearly all their arms and artillery, and thousands of their men were taken prisoner. One year after Naseby, Charles surrendered to Scotland, who in turn, handed Charles over to the English Parliament.

The Long Parliament was first called by King Charles I on 3rd November 1640, six months after the dissolution of the Short Parliament, and within weeks of the defeat of the English against Scotland. The king was reluctant to summon another parliament, but the expense of the wars had left him desperately short of money and in urgent need of parliamentary subsidies. The Long Parliament met from 1640 to 1653 and from 1659 to 1660. 

The Long Parliament was first convened in 1640, and under the leadership of John Pym and John Hampden, it passed a series of bills designed to weaken the power of the king. After Charles tried to arrest Pym, Hampden, and three other members of the House of Commons, civil war broke out. With the help of the Scots, parliament defeated the forces of King Charles, and he was captured in 1646.

 Meanwhile, the Independents, made up of the Puritans in parliament led by Oliver Cromwell, had become very powerful. Civil war broke out again, time over the issue of religion. The Independents won in 1648. In 1649, parliament abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords, and established the court that had Charles put to death.

In 1653, Cromwell forced parliament to disband. After his death the remaining members of the Long Parliament reconvened. They were persuaded to make way for a newly elected parliament in 1660. 

       After eleven years of ruling without a parliament, Charles was forced to call the parliament in April 1640, as he needed money desperately to pay his troops. Parliament however, refused to cooperate with him, until he settled all its grievances. An angry king dissolved the parliament in just three weeks. Since it met for such a short time, this parliament is referred to as 'The Short Parliament'. 

Charles I became King of England in 1625. He had problems with Parliament from the very beginning, because, his wife was French, and parliament resented his support of France. When parliament refused to grant him the money he wanted, he dissolved it and started collecting taxes illegally. Those who refused to pay were thrown into prison.

            However, even these harsh steps failed to get Charles the money he needed, so he was forced to call parliament again in 1628. The House of Commons took this opportunity to force Charles to accept a document called the Petition of Rights. The petition restated some of the ancient rights and privilege of Englishmen. It declared that no free man could be thrown into prison without a trial and that the king could not collect any tax without the consent of parliament. The petition also forbade the use of private homes to house soldiers without payment, and reminded the king that he was not above the law of the land.

Charles I agreed to the petition and parliament voted him the revenues he sought. Shortly after-wards, however, the king dismissed parliament, and rejected the petition. He ruled for the next eleven years without summoning parliament.

 

During the 1630’s, Charles I experimented with a number of ways to raise money without calling the parliament. One of this ways was to insist on Ship Money. This was a system by which English ports were forced to build and equip warships - or pay an equivalent amount of money as tax. However, when Charles tried to extend the practice to inland towns as well, there was an uproar, which finally led to a court battle. 

 Do you know what a monopoly is? It is an exclusive right given to an individual or company to trade in a particular commodity. Traditionally, monarchs sold these monopolies or exclusive rights, and the sale of monopolies provided them with a lot of money.

The House of Commons began to attack this practice of selling monopolies, on the grounds that it made things more expensive. Playing cards and dice were two of the commodities on which Elizabeth issued a monopoly, but others were on more necessary items such as vinegar, starch, sweet wines, and salt. By 1601, protests were so strong that Elizabeth was forced to yield to the demands of the House and repeal, or take back all the monopolies that had been granted.

During Elizabeth's reign, the House of Commons became increasingly confident and assertive. Soon after Elizabeth became queen of England, the Protestants gained full control of parliament. It now became very important to parliament that Elizabeth marry. The Queen did not like it when they tried to discuss her personal life, but the House of Commons insisted that it had the right to do so, because, its members were guaranteed freedom of speech.

 Elizabeth clashed with the Commons on other issues too. Although she agreed that its members had complete freedom of speech, she believed that certain issues such as religion or foreign policy were best left to her and her Privy Council. On thirty-six occasions, Elizabeth even vetoed laws passed by parliament.