The Great Reform Act 1832

The Great Reform Act of 1832 was the first significant reform of the parliamentary system in Britain. It addressed some of the worst abuses of the old electoral system and extended the vote to a wider section of the middle class. While it fell far short of democracy, it was a crucial step in the long process of political reform.

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The Unreformed Parliamentary System

Before 1832, the British electoral system was chaotic, corrupt, and deeply unequal.

Problem	Detail
Rotten boroughs	Constituencies with very few voters (sometimes fewer than 10) that still returned MPs; controlled by wealthy patrons. E.g. Old Sarum had 7 voters but 2 MPs
Pocket boroughs	Constituencies where a single landowner controlled the votes
No representation for new towns	Industrial cities like Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds had no MPs at all
Tiny electorate	Only about 400,000 men (roughly 3% of the population) could vote
No secret ballot	Voting was done in public, making bribery and intimidation easy
Unequal distribution	Cornwall had 42 MPs; Lancashire (with a much larger population) had only 14

Key Term: Rotten borough --- a parliamentary constituency with a very small electorate, often controlled by a patron who effectively chose the MP. The most notorious was Old Sarum in Wiltshire, where the electorate consisted of just a handful of landowners.

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Pressure for Reform

Several factors created growing demand for parliamentary reform.

Factor	Detail
Industrial Revolution	New industrial towns were large and wealthy but had no political representation
The middle class	Factory owners, merchants, and professionals wanted a political voice to match their economic power
American and French Revolutions	Inspired demands for democratic rights and government by consent
Radical movements	Groups like the Hampden Clubs and journalists like William Cobbett campaigned for reform
Peterloo Massacre (1819)	A peaceful reform meeting in Manchester was charged by cavalry; 18 people were killed and over 600 injured. This generated enormous sympathy for the reform movement
Economic hardship	Post-war depression, unemployment, and high food prices (due to the Corn Laws) increased discontent

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The Peterloo Massacre (16 August 1819)

The Peterloo Massacre was a defining moment in the campaign for reform.

Detail	Description
What happened	A crowd of around 60,000 gathered at St Peter's Field, Manchester, to hear the radical speaker Henry Hunt demand parliamentary reform
The response	Local magistrates ordered the yeomanry (volunteer cavalry) to arrest Hunt; the cavalry charged into the crowd
Casualties	18 killed, over 600 injured (including women and children)
Public reaction	Outrage across the country; the event was named "Peterloo" as an ironic reference to the Battle of Waterloo (1815)
Government response	Instead of reform, the government passed the Six Acts (1819), restricting public meetings, press freedom, and the right to bear arms

Exam Tip: Peterloo is a crucial event because it showed the government's willingness to use violence against peaceful protestors. However, it also generated widespread public sympathy for reform. Be ready to argue that Peterloo was a short-term setback but a long-term catalyst for change.

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The Passage of the Reform Act

Date	Event
1830	The Whig Party (led by Earl Grey) wins the general election on a platform of parliamentary reform
March 1831	The Reform Bill passes the House of Commons but is rejected by the House of Lords
October 1831	A second bill is again rejected by the Lords; riots break out in Bristol, Nottingham, and Derby
May 1832	The "Days of May" crisis: Grey persuades King William IV to threaten to create enough new Whig peers to outvote the opposition in the Lords. The Lords back down
June 1832	The Great Reform Act receives Royal Assent

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What Did the Reform Act Do?

Change	Detail
Rotten boroughs abolished	56 rotten boroughs lost both their MPs; 30 lost one MP
New constituencies	67 new constituencies created for industrial towns (e.g. Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds)
Electorate expanded	The vote was extended to men who owned or rented property worth £10 or more per year
Electorate size	Grew from around 400,000 to approximately 650,000 (about 7% of the adult population)

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Limitations of the Reform Act

Limitation	Detail
Still no working-class vote	The £10 property qualification excluded the vast majority of working men
No women's suffrage	Women could not vote
No secret ballot	Voting remained public; bribery and intimidation continued
Unequal constituencies	Representation was still not proportional to population
The House of Lords	Remained unelected and unaccountable

Exam Tip: The Reform Act of 1832 is often described as a "middle-class victory." It gave the vote to factory owners and merchants but deliberately excluded the working class. This is why the Chartist movement emerged in the late 1830s --- working-class campaigners felt betrayed.

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Key Figures

Person	Role
Earl Grey	Whig Prime Minister who passed the Reform Act
Henry Hunt	Radical speaker at the Peterloo meeting
William Cobbett	Journalist and campaigner for parliamentary reform
King William IV	Agreed to threaten the Lords with new peers to force the bill through

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Key Dates

Date	Event
1819	Peterloo Massacre
1830	Whigs win election on reform platform
June 1832	Great Reform Act passed
1867	Second Reform Act extends the vote further
1884	Third Reform Act

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Extended Worked Paragraph: Model Level 4/5 Answer

Question: "Has the economy been the main factor driving changes in the relationship between people and government in Britain? Use your knowledge of the Great Reform Act of 1832 as part of your answer."