View source for Reform Acts

{{Short description|United Kingdom laws reforming the electoral system}}
{{For|the Canadian legislation |Reform Act (Canada)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}The '''Reform Acts''' (or '''Reform Bills''', before they were passed) are [[legislation]] enacted in the [[United Kingdom]] in the 19th and 20th century to [[enfranchise]] new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. When [[short title]]s were introduced for these acts, they were usually [[Representation of the People Act]].

These began with the [[Reform Act 1832]], [[Reform Act 1867]], and the [[Representation of the People Act 1884]], to increase the electorate for the House of Commons and remove certain inequalities in representation. The [[Bill (law)|bill]] of 1832 disfranchised many [[borough]]s which enjoyed undue representation and increased that of the large towns, at the same time extending the franchise. It was put through Parliament by the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]]. The bill of 1867 was passed by the [[Conservative Party (United Kingdom)|Conservatives]] under the urging of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]], while that of 1882 was introduced by the Liberals and passed in 1884. These latter two bills provided for a more democratic representation.

Following the [[First World War]], the [[Reform Act 1918]] was enacted with [[Transpartisan|cross-party]] unanimity. It enfranchised all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30. Ten years later, the [[Reform Act 1928]], passed by the Conservatives, resulted in [[universal suffrage]] with a [[voting age]] of 21. In 1969, the United Kingdom became the first major democratic country to lower its age of franchise to 18 in the [[Representation of the People Act 1969|Reform Act 1969]] passed by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government.

Internationally, the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its [[Westminster system]] played a "vanguard role" with [[Worldwide influence of the constitution of the United Kingdom|worldwide influence]] on the spread of democracy, thus it is often known as "[[The mother of parliaments]]".

== Background ==
[[File:UK parliamentary franchise (1832-2010).pdf|alt=UK parliamentary franchise (1832–2010)|thumb|Percentage of the population of the United Kingdom registered to vote at general elections, 1832–2010]]
In the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], before 1832, fewer than one adult male in ten was eligible to vote in parliamentary elections.<ref name=":5">{{citation |last=Johnston |first=Neil |title=The History of the Parliamentary Franchise |date=2013 |url=http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/RP13-14 |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=16 March 2016}}</ref> Moreover, the franchise varied a great deal between England (which included Wales), where it was wider, and Scotland and Ireland, where it was narrower.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoppen |first=K. Theodore |date=1985 |title=The Franchise And Electoral Politics in England And Ireland 1832-1885 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24416034 |journal=History |volume=70 |issue=229 |pages=202–217 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1985.tb01434.x |jstor=24416034 |issn=0018-2648|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=History |first1=Scottish |last2=read |first2=Archaeology 10 min |title=Franchise reform in nineteenth century Scotland |url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/the-right-to-vote-franchise-reform-in-19th-century-scotland/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=National Museums Scotland |language=en}}</ref> A few boroughs gave the vote to all male householders, but many parliamentary seats were under the control of a small group or sometimes a single rich aristocrat. Reforms had been proposed in the 18th century, both by radicals such as [[John Wilkes]] and by more conservative politicians such as [[William Pitt the Younger]]. However, there was strong opposition to reform, especially after the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] (1789–1799). The cause was continued after 1792 by the [[London Corresponding Society]].

Eventually, the parliamentary franchise was expanded and made more uniform through a series of Reform Acts beginning with the [[Great Reform Act]] in 1832.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bedarida |first=Francois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rfurGmZNuuwC&pg=PA142 |title=A Social History of England 1851–1990 |date=2013-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-09732-4 |language=en}}</ref> These acts extended voting rights to previously [[disenfranchised citizens]]. Sources refer to up to six "Reform Acts",<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Kitching |first=Paula |title=Political Reform: Lesson Plan 6: Overview |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/files/images/lesson_plans_6_overview.pdf |website=The History of Parliament |page=3 |quote=Create one of the following charts for each of the six Reform Acts}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=1969 Representation of the People Act |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/1969-rotp-act/1969-rotp-collections-/1969-sixth-reform-act-/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2021-01-02 |website=www.parliament.uk |language=en |quote="1969-sixth-reform-act"}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Members of Parliament Chadderton |url=http://www.chadderton-historical-society.org.uk/members%20of%20parliament%20chadderton.htm |access-date=2021-01-02 |publisher=Chadderton Historical Society |quote=Act of 1969 (also known as the Sixth Reform Act)}}</ref> although the earlier three in 1832, 1867/68 and 1884, are better known by this name.{{refn|group=note|Various sources, books and texts commonly use this description.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott-Baumann |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zOMqCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT53 |title=Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain 1780–1928 |date=2016-02-22 |publisher=Hodder Education |isbn=978-1-4718-3848-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reekes |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ha_kCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA156 |title=Speeches that Changed Britain: Oratory in Birmingham |date=2015-09-19 |publisher=History West Midlands |isbn=978-1-905036-26-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doogan |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyPSc-oXxa0C&pg=PA71 |title=Changing life in Scotland and Britain: 1830s–1930s |last2=Girvan |first2=Edith |date=2004 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=978-0-435-32692-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0To-MsFN-oC&pg=PA49 |title=Understanding A/S Level Government Politics |date=2003-12-05 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-6081-6 |language=en}}</ref>}} Some other acts related to electoral matters also became known as Reform Acts.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=D. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMceBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Reform+Act+of+1885%22&pg=PA82 |title=Democracy and Reform 1815–1885 |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-88325-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Reid |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9RbAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22Reform+Act+of+1885%22&pg=PA17 |title=We must fight it out! – And why? |date=1887 |pages=16–17 |language=en}}</ref>

The following Acts of Parliament are known as Reform Acts:{{refn|group=note|For the narrative history see Llewellan Woodward (1961), ''The Age of Reform, 1815–1870'', 2nd ed.; Asa Briggs (1959), ''The Age of Improvement 1783–1867''.}}
* [[Reform Act 1832]] (often called the "Great Reform Act" or "First Reform Act"),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Eric J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9cXnG6yW7YC&q=great+reform+act|title=The Great Reform Act of 1832|date=2008-01-28|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-81603-3|language=en}}</ref> which applied to England and Wales and gave representation to previously underrepresented urban areas and extended the qualifications for voting.
** [[Scottish Reform Act 1832]], a similar reform applying to Scotland.
** [[Irish Reform Act 1832]], a similar reform applying to Ireland.
* [[Reform Act 1867]] (also called the "Second Reform Act"),<ref>{{cite book|first=Francis |last=Barrymore Smith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QV80AAAAIAAJ|title=The Making of the Second Reform Bill|year=1966|publisher = Cambridge University Press}}</ref> which widened the franchise and adjusted representation to be more equitable.
** [[Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868]], a similar reform applying to Scotland.
** [[Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1868]], a similar reform applying to Ireland.
* [[Ballot Act 1872]] (sometimes called the "Reform Act 1872"), which introduced the secret ballot.
* [[Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883]] (sometimes called the "Reform Act 1883"), which introduced campaign spending limits.
* [[Reform Act 1884]] (also called the "Third Reform Act"),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hayes|first=William A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSAmAAAAMAAJ|title=The Background and Passage of the Third Reform Act|date=1982|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=978-0-8240-5156-3|language=en}}</ref> which allowed people in counties to vote on the same basis as those in towns. Home ownership was the only qualification.
* [[Redistribution of Seats Act 1885]] (sometimes called the "Reform Act 1885"),<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> which split most multi-member constituencies into multiple single-member ones.
* [[Reform Act 1918]] (also called the "Fourth Reform Act"),<ref name="Dawson">{{cite journal|last1=Dawson|first1=Michael|date=25 March 2010|title=Money and the real impact of the Fourth Reform Act|journal=The Historical Journal|volume=35|issue=2|pages=369–381|doi=10.1017/S0018246X0002584X|s2cid=155070834 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Tanner|first=Duncan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ec0NNAAACAAJ|title=The Parliamentary Electoral System, the Fourth Reform Act and the Rise of Labour in England and Wales|date=1983|language=en}}</ref> which abolished property qualifications for men and introduced limited female suffrage, for women over the age of 30.
* [[Reform Act 1928]] (also called the "Fifth Reform Act"),<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Albjerg|first1=Victor Lincoln|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwEgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22fifth+reform+act%22|title=Europe from 1914 to the Present|last2=Albjerg|first2=Esther Marguerite Hall|last3=Albjerg|first3=Marguerite Hall|date=1951|publisher=McGraw-Hill|pages=257|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cole|first=G. D. H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uqp-DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22fifth+reform+act%22&pg=PT12|title=British Working Class Politics, 1832-1914|date=2018-12-07|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-82018-2|language=en}}</ref> which widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men.
* [[Reform Act 1969]] (also called the "Sixth Reform Act"),<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.

There are many other [[electoral reform]] Acts that changed the [[electoral system]] in the United Kingdom.{{Refn|See the information box at the bottom of the article.|group=note}} Such legislation typically used "[[Representation of the People Act#United Kingdom|Representation of the People Act]]" as the [[Short and long titles|short title]], by which name the 1918, 1928 and other acts in the 20th century are better known.<ref>Alder and Syrett (2017). ''Constitutional and Administrative Law''. 11th ed. Palgrave Law Masters. [[iarchive:constitutionalad0000alde_q1s5/page/254/mode/2up|p. 294]].</ref><ref>Birch (1998). ''The British System of Government''. 10th ed. Routledge. Taylor & Francis e-Library. 2006. [https://books.google.com/books?id=41Cyb3HrkqYC&pg=PA17 p. 17].</ref><ref>See, for example, the definition in [https://books.google.com/books?id=4jJHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA7 section 8(1)] of the [[Representation of the People Act 1884]], read with the definition of the Registration Acts in section 8(2).</ref> The title Representation of the People Act was adopted in other countries of, or formerly part of, the [[British Empire]] through the spread of the [[Westminster parliamentary system]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-02 |title=How the Westminster parliamentary system was exported around the world |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-the-westminster-parliamentary-system-was-exported-around-the-world |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=University of Cambridge |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Julian Go |title=Constitutionalism and political reconstruction |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004151741 |editor1-last=Arjomand |editor1-first=Saïd Amir |pages=92–94 |chapter=A Globalizing Constitutionalism?, Views from the Postcolony, 1945–2000 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYmmnYKEvE0C&pg=PA94}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnston |first1=Douglas M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA571 |title=The Historical Foundations of World Order |last2=Reisman |first2=W. Michael |date=2008 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |isbn=978-9047423935 |location=Leiden |page=571}}</ref> The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] played a "vanguard role" with [[Worldwide influence of the constitution of the United Kingdom|worldwide influence]] on the spread of democracy, thus it is often known as "[[the mother of parliaments]]".<ref name=":6" />

== Reform Act 1832 ==
{{main|Reform Act 1832|Scottish Reform Act 1832|Irish Reform Act 1832}}

The Reform Act 1832 for England and Wales was the most controversial of the electoral reform acts passed by the Parliament. Similar acts were passed the same year [[Scottish Reform Act 1832|for Scotland]], and Ireland. They were put through Parliament by the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]]. The acts reapportioned Parliament in a way fairer to the cities of the old industrial north, which had experienced tremendous growth. The act also did away with most of the [[Rotten borough|"rotten" and "pocket" boroughs]] such as ''[[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|Old Sarum]]'', which with only seven voters, all controlled by the local squire, was still sending two members to Parliament. This act re-apportioned representation in Parliament, thus making that body more accurately represent the citizens of the country geographically (although still with no party-proportional balance), but also gave the power of voting to those lower in the social and economic scale, for the act extended the right to vote (in the boroughs) to any long-term holders of tenements of at least £10 annual value, adding 217,000 voters to an electorate of 435,000. Annual value here refers to the income that the land could be expected to earn if let, in a year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reform Act of 1832 |url=http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/refact/refact.htm |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=www.historyhome.co.uk}}</ref> As many as one man in five, though by some estimates still only one in seven, now had the right to vote.<ref name=":5" />

The agitation preceding and following the First Reform Act made many people consider fundamental issues of society and politics. The bill allowed the middle classes to share power with the upper classes; for many [[Conservatism|conservatives]], this was revolutionary. Some historians argue that this transfer of power achieved in Britain and Ireland what the [[French Revolution of 1848]] eventually achieved in France.

[[Charles Dickens]] observed these events at first hand as a shorthand Parliamentary reporter. The novel ''[[Middlemarch]]'', by Mary Ann Evans (''[[George Eliot]]'') is set in the 1830s and mentions the struggle over the Reform Bills, though not as a major topic. Eliot's ''[[Felix Holt, the Radical]]'', set in 1832, is a novel explicitly about the Great Reform Act.

== Reform Act 1867 ==
{{main|Reform Act 1867}}

The [[Chartism|Chartists]] campaigned from 1838 for a wider reform. The movement petered out in the 1850s, but achieved most of its demands in the longer run. Legislative bills were introduced by the [[Conservative Party (United Kingdom)|Conservatives]] under the urging of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]]. The 1867/8 acts for England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland extended the right to vote still further down the class ladder. In England and Wales, the reforms added just short of a million voters, including many workingmen, which doubled the electorate to almost two million.<ref name=":5" />

Like the Great Reform Act before it, the Second Reform Act also created major shock waves in contemporary British culture. In works such as [[Matthew Arnold]]'s ''[[Culture and Anarchy]]'' and [[John Ruskin]]'s ''[[The Crown of Wild Olive]]'', contemporary authors debated whether the shift of power would create democracy that would, in turn, destroy high culture.

== Reform Act 1884 ==
{{main|Representation of the People Act 1884}}

A further Reform Bill was introduced in 1882 by the Liberals. The Conservative-dominated Lords passed it in 1884, opening the way for its royal proclamation, becoming the Third Reform Act. It was the first electoral reform act to apply to the United Kingdom as a whole. Only with this act did a majority of adult males gain the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Along with the Redistribution Act 1885, this tripled the electorate again, giving the vote to most agricultural labourers. (Women were still barred from voting.)<ref name=":5" />

== 1918, 1928 and 1969 Reform Acts ==
{{Main|Representation of the People Act 1918|Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928|Representation of the People Act 1969}}
By the end of the 19th century and in they early 20th century, voting was coming to be regarded as a right rather than the property of the privileged but the [[First World War]] delayed further reforms. After the War, women were granted voting rights with [[Transpartisan|cross-party]] unanimity in the [[Representation of the People Act 1918|Act of 1918]], the Fourth Reform Act, which enfranchised all men aged over 21 and women over 30. This last piece of gender discrimination was eliminated 10 years later by the [[Equal Franchise Act 1928]], the Fifth Reform Act, passed by the Conservatives.<ref name=":5" />

The [[voting age]] was lowered in 1969 by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government in the [[Sixth Reform Act]], making Britain the first major democratic nation to extend voting rights to all adults aged 18 or over.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=2021-04-03 |title=A coming of age: how and why the UK became the first democracy to allow votes for 18-year-olds |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |journal=Contemporary British History |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=284–313 |doi=10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |s2cid=233956982 |issn=1361-9462 |quote=Our starting point is placement of the 1969 Act within the context of previous reforms of the age of enfranchisement since the Great Reform Act of 1832.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=2021-11-03 |title=Lowering the voting age: three lessons from the 1969 Representation of the People's Act |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/lessons-from-the-1969-representation-of-the-peoples-act/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=British Politics and Policy at LSE |quote='Votes at 18' was the last major extension of the UK franchise and is therefore an important element of the history of UK democracy from the 1832 Great Reform Act onwards.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bingham |first=Adrian |date=25 June 2019 |title='The last milestone' on the journey to full adult suffrage? 50 years of debates about the voting age |url=https://www.historyandpolicy.org/index.php/policy-papers/papers/the-last-milestone-on-the-journey-to-full-adult-suffrage |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=History & Policy}}</ref>

== Modern usage ==
{{Further|Electoral reform#United Kingdom}}
The periodic redrawing of constituency boundaries is now dealt with by a permanent [[Boundary Commissions (United Kingdom)|Boundary Commission]] in each part of the United Kingdom, rather than a Reform Act.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnston|first=Neil|date=2021-02-01|title=Constituency boundary reviews and the number of MPs|url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05929/|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Some people in Britain, mostly associated with the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] political party, have called for a new "Great Reform Act" to introduce electoral changes they favour. These would include lowering the minimum voting age to 16 and introducing [[proportional representation]], which are also supported by the [[Green Party of England and Wales]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|last=Stone|first=Greg|date=2009-07-30|title=It's time for the next Great Reform Act|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/30/liberal-democrats-electoral-reform|access-date=2021-01-02|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Toynbee|first=Polly|date=2014-01-31|title=Giving 16-year-olds the vote can be Labour's Great Reform Act|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/31/giving-16-year-olds-vote-reform-bribery-based-democracy|access-date=2021-01-02|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-05-06|title=A new Great Reform Act is needed to limit the absurdities of our constitution|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/new-great-reform-act-needed-limit-absurdities-our-constitution-10230596.html|access-date=2021-01-02|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://livingroom.greenparty.org.uk/2023/02/03/proportional-representation/ |title= Electoral Reform: Is Proportional Representation The Solution? |date= 3 February 2023 |website= Green Party of England and Wales |access-date= 29 April 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Elections in the United Kingdom#History|Elections in the United Kingdom § History]]
* [[Corrupt practices]]
* [[Electoral Reform Society]]
* [[History of the constitution of the United Kingdom]]
* [[Parliament in the Making]]
* [[Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918]]
* [[Suffrage#United Kingdom|Suffrage § United Kingdom]]
* [[Universal suffrage#Dates by country|Universal suffrage § Dates by country]]
* [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

* {{Americana|wstitle=Reform Bills|inline=1}}

== Further reading ==
* Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. "Why did the West extend the franchise? Democracy, inequality, and growth in historical perspective." ''Quarterly Journal of Economics'' 115.4 (2000): 1167–1199. [https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/64369/whydidwestextend00acem2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y online]
* Aidt, Toke S., and Raphaël Franck. "How to get the snowball rolling and extend the franchise: voting on the Great Reform Act of 1832." ''Public Choice'' 155 (2013): 229–250. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-011-9911-y online]
* Berlinski, Samuel, and Torun Dewan. "The political consequences of franchise extension: Evidence from the second reform act." ''Quarterly Journal of Political Science'' 6.34 (2011): 329–376. [http://personal.lse.ac.uk/dewanta/downloads/Franchise.pdf online]
* Brown, Richard. "The Reform Acts". in ''Church and State in Modern Britain 1700-1850'' (Routledge. 1991). Pages [https://books.google.com/books?id=ewWKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 220] to 227.
* Briggs, Asa ''England  in The Age of Improvement, 1783-1867'' (2nd ed. 1979) [https://archive.org/details/englandinageofim0000asab/page/n8/mode/1up online]
* Cannon, John. ''Parliamentary Reform 1640-1832'' (Cambridge University Press, 1973) [https://books.google.com/books?id=C0M4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR5 online].
* Conacher, J.B. ''The Emergence of British Parliamentary Democracy in the Nineteenth Century: The Passing of the Reform Acts of 1832, 1867, and 1884-1885''. (Major Issues in History). (John Wiley and Sons. 1971) [https://archive.org/details/emergenceofbriti00jbco/page/n3/mode/2up online] also at [https://books.google.com/books?id=7nEHAAAAMAAJ Google Books].
* Evans, Eric J. ''Parliamentary reform in Britain, c. 1770-1918'' (Longman, 1999)
* Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The politics of democracy: the English Reform Act of 1867." ''Journal of British Studies'' 6.1 (1966): 97–138. doi:10.1086/38552
* Pugh, Martin. ''The evolution of the British electoral system, 1832-1987'' (Historical Association, 1988) [https://archive.org/details/evolutionofbriti0000pugh online]
* Vernon, James. ''Politics and the people : a study in English political culture, c. 1815-1867'' (Cambridge University Press, 1993) [https://archive.org/details/politicspeoplest0000vern/page/n8/mode/1up online]
* Whitfield, Bob. ''The Extension of the franchise, 1832-1931'' (Heinemann, 2001) [https://archive.org/details/extensionoffranc0000whit online]                            .
* Woodward, Llewellan. ''The Age of Reform, 1815–1870'' (2nd ed. 1962) [https://archive.org/details/ageofreform181510000sirl online]

===Primary sources===
* Gash, Norman, ed. ''The Age of Peel'' (1968) [https://archive.org/details/ageofpeel0000norm/page/n4/mode/1up  online], reprintd originsl documents that cover 1828 to 1848

== External links ==

* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm " Citizenship" from The National Archives]
* [http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/diary/historylesson.htm The Electoral Reform Society]
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/history/reform.html The Reform Act Crisis] on the Victorian Web
* [http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/refact/refact.htm Text of the 1832 Act]
* [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PR1832.htm Spartacus School Net on 1832], [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PR1867.htm 1867], [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PR1884.htm 1884], and [http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PRparliament.htm Parliamentary reform in general]

{{UK electoral reform|state=expanded}}

[[Category:Laws in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Legal history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Constitution of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]]
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[[Category:Electoral reform in the United Kingdom]]
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