Great Reform Act, 1832
| The passing of the Act was a mixture of political circumstance and
popular pressure. Divisions in the anti-reform Tory Party allowed
the veteran Whig reformer, Lord Grey, to become Prime Minister in
1830. However, his Reform Bill was rejected by the Tory-dominated
House of Lords. It was the agitation from extra-parliamentary radicals
in the country at large that finally convinced a sceptical king and
hostile Lords that reform was necessary. Reproduced here is the manuscript
text of the Act itself, together with the schedule of boroughs to
be disenfranchised. HLRO HL/PO/PU/1/1832/2&3W4n147 (1832) |
Transcript
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