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In Britain by 1850, democracy had begun to take on an effective face. However throughout the UK, equal representation did not exist, and it was the wealthy aristocracy that had any form of political power. Even in this elitist system there existed much corruption and bribery. Changing social attitudes lead to a series of acts being passed over the span of 80 years which would eventually lead to suffrage -the right to vote- for working class men, and eventually women, bar a few exceptions. In a true democracy in the purest sense of the word, there must be freedom of speech, regular elections, secret ballots and equality between genders and people. In he mid-nineteenth century, this was not the case. Historian Sydney Wood suggests that: “the parliamentary system of the 1950s was not democratic. It was not meant to be. Democracies were regarded as being at the mercy of the ignorant people unfit to possess power. It favoured the wealthy in a number of ways.” Prior to the passing of the first reform act in 1832, Britain’s political system had not changed since the sixteenth century. The First Reform Act of 1832 increased the electorate from 435,00 to around 652,000. Every man owning property worth £10 (per annum) now had the vote. Prior to the Act’s passing, there were no standard laws that said who could vote. Before the Act, there were two types of constituency; counties and boroughs. The passing gave rise to a greater number f MP’s. The Act corrected some anomalies of the voting system, and it made the working class more politically minded. William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli were politically competing for credit as to who lead to the passing of the 1867 Second Reform Act, in order to gain support of working class voters. It was seen by many in parliament that in order to coincide with social changes, the voting system had to be updated. With the passing of the vote, the electorate became around 2.5 million, with working class men from towns and cities allowed the vote. All householders with one year’s residence got the vote, or those living in residence worth £12. Overall, one in three men got the vote. However, the vote was not yet afforded to those under twenty-one, or women. The constituencies were reorganised, and some smaller ones were disenfranchised. The greatest change that this Act made was granting vote to those who occupied the boroughs. Also, the increased electorate meant that the parties had to nationally organise themselves.
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