Tag: Electoral Reform

19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Victorian Commons

The Secret Ballot: The Secret to Reducing Electoral Violence?

In July 1872, 150 years ago this month, the Ballot Act introduced the secret ballot to all UK parliamentary and local elections. Here guest blogger Dr Gary Hutchison, of the Causes and Consequences of Electoral Violence project, discusses how the secret ballot affected violence at elections. An Interactive Map of over 3,000 violent events, from individual assaults to riots, can be found on their website. … Continue reading The Secret Ballot: The Secret to Reducing Electoral Violence?

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19th Century history, Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood, History of Parliament Trust, Peterloo

The History of Parliament Trust is on YouTube

Coming up in 2020 the History of Parliament Trust has exciting plans for the expansion of our online resources, the first of which is our new YouTube channel… Throughout 2019 at the History of Parliament our Public Engagement Team and the House of Commons 1832-68 project (@TheVictCommons) worked with the Citizens Project at Royal Holloway on a number of their public history projects. These included … Continue reading The History of Parliament Trust is on YouTube

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19th Century history, Peterloo

After Peterloo: From Repression to Reform

As we prepare to commemorate the bicentenary of Peterloo Massacre this Friday – 16 August – we hear from editor of our 1832-68 project for the second time in our Peterloo blog series. Dr Philip Salmon discusses the aftermath of the Massacre, and the public protest and parliamentary reform that followed in the nineteenth century… Public opinion was shocked by the murder of so many … Continue reading After Peterloo: From Repression to Reform

Kathryn Rix1 Comment
18th Century history, 19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform, Georgian Lords, Peterloo

Manchester and the Lancashire peerage: the background to Peterloo

In the latest blog from the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton considers the influence of some of the local grandees in parts of Lancashire, their potential impact on the drive for reform in the early 19th century and how they may have helped contribute to Peterloo This month the country will be marking the bicentenary of the ‘Peterloo Massacre’. On 16 August 1819 a crowd … Continue reading Manchester and the Lancashire peerage: the background to Peterloo

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19th Century history, Electoral Reform, Peterloo

Political protest in the age of Peterloo

Today’s blog from the editor of our House of Commons 1832-68 section, Dr Philip Salmon, is the first of many pieces in which we will discuss the Peterloo Massacre that took place in St Peter’s Field, Manchester on 16th August 1819. He outlines the political climate within which this infamous episode occurred and provides context for the blogs that are to follow in the series. … Continue reading Political protest in the age of Peterloo

Kathryn Rix6 Comments
20th century history, Elections, Events, Women and Parliament

Electoral Firsts in the 1918 Election: Event Review

Today we hear from our undergraduate intern from the History department at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Matthew Anderson. For those of you who were unable to attend our recent event in Parliament, below he outlines our three papers… On Wednesday 16th January, amidst a significant week for Brexit and the government, the History of Parliament Trust and the Co-operative party hosted an event in … Continue reading Electoral Firsts in the 1918 Election: Event Review

sammysturgess1 Comment
20th century history, Conferences/seminars

From Parliamentary Politics to Authoritarianism: A Reflection on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Ahead of this evening’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, Evan Fowler, associate fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, recaps his paper on the Hong Kong special administrative region from our previous session on 22 January… Hong Kong has changed since reverting to Chinese administration in 1997. My talk focused on understanding the change, from where Hong … Continue reading From Parliamentary Politics to Authoritarianism: A Reflection on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

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19th Century history, Electoral Reform

Tackling electoral corruption: how Victorian Britain reformed the trial of election petitions in 1868

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the passing of the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act, an important part of the electoral reforms which had begun with the Second Reform Act of 1867. Dr. Kathryn Rix of our Victorian Commons project explains why and how Benjamin Disraeli’s ministry aimed to tackle the problem of bribery and corruption at mid-Victorian elections. On 31 July 1868 … Continue reading Tackling electoral corruption: how Victorian Britain reformed the trial of election petitions in 1868

Kathryn Rix2 Comments
'The Story of Parliament', 18th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Electoral Reform, Women and Parliament

Voice and Vote: Celebrating 100 Years of Votes for Women – a guidebook

Dr Paul Seaward is one of the editors of the “Voice & Vote guidebook” to accompany the UK Parliament Vote 100 project‘s landmark exhibition in Westminster Hall. In today’s blog he explains the contents of the book, who contributed to it and where you can get one… Last week we were delighted to celebrate with the curators of the wonderful Voice and Vote exhibition in Westminster … Continue reading Voice and Vote: Celebrating 100 Years of Votes for Women – a guidebook

sammysturgess3 Comments
19th Century history, Elections, Electoral Reform

The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Boundary Act. As Martin Spychal of the Commons 1832-68 Section discusses in today’s blog, the oft-neglected story of the Act provides several key insights into Britain’s second Reform Act and, in particular, the intentions of Benjamin Disraeli, the Conservative Prime Minister in 1868… It is often forgotten that Benjamin Disraeli intended to mitigate the democratising impact … Continue reading The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?

Martin Spychal3 Comments