great reform act
...the way the House of Commons was elected, Britain faced the grave danger of revolution. So again in 1832 Grey tried putting the bill through the House of Lords but again it was dismissed. Lord Grey now appealed to William IV for help. Although William IV did not agree with parliamentary reform, he feared the possibility of revolution. He therefore agreed to Grey's request to create a large number of new Whig peers. When the reform bill was put through the House of Lords for the third time, William IV threatened the Tory peers that they would be fired if they did not vote for reform. When the House of Lords heard the news, they agreed to pass the Reform Bill. The Whigs coming to power in government had a large effect on the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832 because the new government was for parliamentary reform. William IV had a very important effect in the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. He was arguably the most important reason for the passing of the Reform Bill. William IV, began his short reign in 1830. The reform of Parliament had by now become the burning issue. Extreme Tories, led by the Duke of Wellington, stood fast against it. Reform groups in Parliament, including the moderate Tories, drew together and supported Earl Grey, the Whig leader. Wellington's government fell and the Whigs came into power. However, William IV had a vital role in the passing of the Reform Bill. Considering the House of Lords was full of anti-reformers, if he had not threatened to replace them with Whig peers the reform would have never been passed and the most likely outcome would have been a revolution. It wasn’t just the British political system that changed. In Horsham reform came as a relief in 1832. The townspeople were indeed glad that the Reform Bill was passed, and celebrated with a march round the town followed by a dinner in the park with 3,000 sitting down to cold beef. Under the terms of the Bill, Horsham lost one member, the franchise was extended to every householder of £10 annual value, and the boundaries of the constituency were extended to include the whole parish rather than just the borough, so that 257 voters were now concerned and not just the burgesses, although still over half the householders of Horsham were ineligible to vote. Before the Reform Bill of 1832 Horsham was the centre of some violent riots. In November 1830 a mob of between 1,000 and 2,000 marched on Horsham, evidently well organised and determined to get their demands of a minimum 2s. 6d. day wage and reduction of rent and tithes (the wages had dropped because of the depression in In Horsham the magistrates were powerless to resist the labourers' increasing demands, but the cost of living went up and up. Rents rose as much as 90 per cent and distress was such that some farmers paid no rent at all. The poor rates were of course greatly increased, and there was much unemployment and decline in cattle rearing and crop growing. In the 1830s there were several wet seasons, causing the loss of sheep as well as crops. To crown it all, taxation to pay for the war had grown alarmingly, there were taxes on salt, soap, candles, leather, malt, sugar and tea which just about included everything necessary for a working man. In Horsham in between 1780 and 1830 the cost of living had rose by 500 per cent. With all these troubles in the south of England, providing troops was becoming a problem to keep order. Cavalry from Dorchester and 100 infantry from Portsmouth were ordered to Horsham to avoid more riots and to retain order. On the whole the reform bill of 1832 resulted in the transfer of political power from the land owning aristocrats to the middle class and the bending of the House of Lords to the popular will. The general purposes of the reform act of 1832 really did change In 1832 many working class people supported the demand for reform. It changed the political system and it was supported by the Whig government that came to power in 1830 which was more in favour of change than the Tories. It changed the British political system because there was also a fear in government that unless there was moderate reform there might be a revolution in Britain. There were riots and serious disturbances in London, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Yeovil, Sherborne, Exeter and Bristol when it became clear to the people that reform was being delayed. The biggest change in the politcal system in the Great Reform act 1832, was the type of person able to vote was changed. Another way by which the Reform Bill can be seen as a huge change in the British Political system was because the victory for the middle classes rests on the contemplation of what an alternative bill may have contained, or indeed, what may have happened if no Bill had been passed at all. It has been argued that an even less radical reform bill could have been passed, having the effect of dampening down the calls for far reaching Parliamentary Reform, while granting fewer concessions to t...