The reform league was founded in 1865; it was a predominantly working class organisation with a radical backing. The League wanted the extension of the franchise to ‘every resident and registered male person.’ John Bright encouraged these 2 groups to work together to achieve some sort of reform, the Union had more money, and the League had more members, in 1866 they did indeed work together which contributed to the growth of popular pressure and public awareness about the need for reform. These 2 groups both added to the adding pressure for reform, and do so again later after Gladstone and Russell’s failed reform bill.
In 1864 Gladstone had revealed in the House of Commons, through pressure from Radicals and Trade Unions that he was in favour of reform. Palmerston, the prime minister at the time was extremely anti-reform but he died in 1865. In 1866 Liberals Russell and Gladstone introduced a moderate reform bill, which had the backing of John Bright; it would increase the electorate by 400,000. However, this bill was rejected from popular opposition, which was of course expected from the conservatives who said the bill went too far, but a section of the liberals led by Robert Lowe also rejected this bill, as he and his supporters believed the working class too ignorant to make important decisions. The bill was rejected and the Liberal Prime Minister, Russell, resigned from office, and the conservatives formed a minority government under Derby, with Disraeli as leader in the Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In response to this, the Reform League decided to hold a national demonstration of the 23rd July. Because of the expected size of the meeting it was to be held in Hyde Park. Five days before the demonstration, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner informed the League that this meeting was prohibited; the League regarded this prohibition as an illegal interference with their lawful right to assembly. The officials of the League, on the day, addressed the crowd, the mob left behind after the speeches began to skirmish with the police officers, resulting in disorder and riots with and park railings giving way, this continued for two days and troops had to be called in. The League leaders did not desire this kind of violent action, they wanted to achieve their aims through legal means, but this performance nonetheless showed the average working class man’s anger at being denied reform.
In 1866 there was a short sharp economic crisis and several companies went bankrupt and there was widespread unemployment, bread became expensive following the poor harvest of 1865 and there was a sudden cholera epidemic which killed around 8000 people in London alone. These occurrences acted as a catalyst to the following events.
In March 1867 Derby and Disraeli knew they had to introduce some sort of reform at this point, and they thought that if they played their cards right, they could in fact win over valuable supporters with this act, and cement their place in the government, a feat which had eluded the Conservative party for the past 20 or so years. Derby and Disraeli were prepared to introduce a more drastic bill than Gladstone if it would bring the Tories a long period in power. The problem though was that a group of conservatives, lead by Cranborne, would resign if the bill went too far. So in February 1867, a much too mild bill was read out, and it was naturally the liberals would not vote for it.
During the period of the conservative reform bill being processed, the Reform League planned another demonstration in Hyde Park. At 6pm on 6th May, 100,000 people entered Hyde Park, marching behind a red flag topped by a cap of liberty. The cap was a symbol of the French revolution, and the red flag was the emblem of the new socialist International Working Men’s Association. The message to the government was clear; enfranchise the ‘respectable ‘working class or they would return to the mass politics of the chartist days.
This demonstration, amid a flurry of already popular public support for reform, may have been the final straw, because in August 1867, the 2nd reform act was passed. But, to the conservatives’ eventual dismay, several amendments proposed by the liberals were added to the bill, making it even more extreme than originally intended, Disraeli had taken a gamble in passing the bill and the working class had ended up with more than they had originally bargained for.
Public pressure, via the demonstrations of The Reform League, The Reform Union, and radical John bright, all played a vital part in bringing about the 2nd reform act. Other influences may have played a part too, the visit of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a man who played an instrumental role in the unification of Italy, publicised the idea of reform and his admirers in fact actually formed the Reform League. Politicians had begun to realize that some sort of reform was inevitable, Gladstone tried and failed to introduce some in 1866 due to political manoeuvres in opposing parties and his own. But the conservatives realized that they had a real change to gain power and a standing in the government, and although they originally had a fear of reform, the 2nd reform act was passed, the economic state perhaps acting as a catalyst again. But to the eventual dismay of Disraeli and the conservatives, due to the resignation of key Conservatives and Liberal amendments, Disraeli ended up with a Reform Bill which was far more drastic then he had ever originally planned to install.
