Perilous Question by Antonia Fraser
The House of Commons, 1833
by Sir George Hayter
oil on canvas, 1833-1843
213 3/8 in. x 136 1/4 in. x 5 3/8 in. (5420 mm x 3460 mm x 135 mm)
Given by H.M. Government, 1858
National Portrait Gallery in London
oil on canvas, 1833-1843
213 3/8 in. x 136 1/4 in. x 5 3/8 in. (5420 mm x 3460 mm x 135 mm)
Given by H.M. Government, 1858
National Portrait Gallery in London
Reform Act 1832
The Act increased the electorate from 478,000 to 813,000 out of a total population of 24 million; industrial cities such as Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool received MPs, many for the first time; half the MPs who sat for rotten boroughs lost their seats (though 73 still remained), yet the size of the Commons remained at 658, the same as we have today. The Act extended the vote from the upper and upper-middle to the middle classes, and it was not until 1867 that it was further extended to the lower-middle classes, and in 1884 to the working classes. Finally, women were brought into the bosom of the constitution in recognition of their work in the Great War.
Weidenfeld & Nicholson, £20, 336pp
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