![William Ewart Gladstone by Rupert Potter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/William_Ewart_Gladstone_by_Rupert_Potter.jpg)
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
under the premiership of
William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the
Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in the UK after the
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
Government's
Reform Act 1867.
Taken together, these measures extended the same
voting
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...
qualifications as existed in the towns to the countryside, more than doubling the electorate in the counties, and essentially established the modern
one member constituency as the normal pattern for
Parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
representation.
The bill was introduced by Gladstone on 28 February 1884. It was initially rejected by the House of Lords on 17 July, but passed a second time and gained Royal Assent on 6 December of that year.
The Act extended the 1867 concessions from the
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
s to the countryside. All men paying an annual rental of £10 and all those holding land valued at £10 now had the vote.
This significantly increased the electorate; in the
1880 general election, before the passing of the Act, 3,040,050 voters were registered, while in the
1885 general election, after the passing of the Act, there were 5,708,030 registered voters. The bill was so objectionable to the House of Lords that
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
was forced to separate the legislation into two bills,
[McKechnie, ''The reform of the House of Lords'' p.49] the second being the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which redistributed constituencies in order to equalise representation within constituencies across the UK.
The 1884 Reform Act did not establish
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
: although the size of the electorate was increased considerably, all women and 40% of men were still without the vote.
Male suffrage varied throughout the kingdom, too: in England and Wales, two in three adult males had the vote; in Scotland, three in five did; but in Ireland, the figure was only one in two.
Key sections of the Act
''Section 2'': This extended a uniform household (freeholder and leaseholder) franchise to all
parliamentary boroughs
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...
and
counties in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
''Section 3'': Men inhabiting a dwelling-house as an employee, whose employer did not live there, were to be treated for franchise purposes as if they were occupying as tenants.
''Section 4'': Prohibition of multiplicity of votes. This was not to stop people acquiring multiple votes in different constituencies (
plural voting was still permitted), but to restrict sub-division of one property to qualify multiple voters (so-called
faggot voters).
''Section 5a'': A man who was a £10 occupier in a county or borough was to be a voter in that county or borough. This assimilated the previous county occupation franchise and borough occupation franchise into a uniform occupation franchise.
''Section 6'': Occupation in a borough was not to confer a county franchise.
Effects
As many crofters in the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...
qualified as £10 occupiers, the Act empowered Scottish Gaels to take action against evictions and rent increases at the end of the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
. Their votes led to the formation of the
Crofters' Party
The Crofters' Party was the parliamentary arm of the Highland Land League
The first Highland Land League ( gd, Dionnasg an Fhearainn) emerged as a distinct political force in Scotland during the 1880s, with its power base in the country's Highl ...
and
Highland Land League
The first Highland Land League ( gd, Dionnasg an Fhearainn) emerged as a distinct political force in Scotland during the 1880s, with its power base in the country's Highlands and Islands. It was known also as the Highland Land Law Reform Associat ...
, and eventually the passage of the
Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886, which addressed many of their grievances and put an end to the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resulte ...
.
See also
*
Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918
The total registered electorate in the United Kingdom grew from 5.7 million in 1885 to over 21 million in 1918. Much of the growth was result of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which expanded franchise by abolishing property qualificat ...
*
Medical Relief Disqualification Removal Act 1885
The Medical Relief Disqualification Removal Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c. 46) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Depende ...
References
* ''The Statutes: Second Revised Edition, Vol. XVI 1884-1886'', (printed by authority 1900)
External links
Digital reproduction of the Original Act on the Parliamentary Archives catalogue
{{UK legislation
1884 in law
Representation of the People Acts
December 1884 events
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1884