A similar reason that Disraeli presented to the Conservative Party for the need to Reform was a phrase that he coined Tory democracy, this he explained was the theory that the Conservatives should not resist social Reform but should in fact use it to gain the support of the newly enfranchised voters i.e. the working class. This meant that if the Tory’s passed an act of social Reform the working class may feel that the Conservatives were attempting to give them equal status in society and therefore, upon receiving the right to vote would repay the favour by voting for the Conservatives in the next election. We know also that this is not entirely true as when Disraeli created the Bill he discretely placed in it an “insurance policy”, although the right to vote would be given to far more voter’s in potentially Liberal voting areas, they were still severely under-represented in Parliament, so the support of the working class voters was not necessary.
Tory democracy was not in actual fact beneficial to the working class, indeed the only people who would benefit from it were the Conservatives themselves, this is because Tory democracy was not about helping the working class but instead, gaining there support while doing as little social reform as possible, this is shown in 1866 when the Conservatives joined forces with several right wing Liberals in putting down the Second Reform Bill, if he had really wished to improve conditions for the working class then Disraeli would not have let his rivalry with Gladstone come between him and social reform.
The majority, and probably the main reasons that Disraeli passed the 1867 Second Reform Act were purely personal affairs, the main one of these being the chance to gain power in Parliament. It was nearing the end of Derby’s administration and Disraeli wished to succeed him as the leader of the Tory’s and if he could, become the Prime Minister of Britain. This was not going to be easy as Disraeli was born into a working class Jewish family, which is not a typical candidate for a Conservative leader. Disraeli was an opportunist however, and when he saw his chance with the question of Reform he took it upon himself to create and push a Bill through personally. To have an Act passed in the Houses of Parliament is seen as a political achievement, so by passing the act he was showing himself to be a successful Tory MP and more crucially asserting himself among the backbenchers as the replacement to Derby, this was particularly important as until this point the backbenchers had been cautious of Disraeli because of his unusual background.
An additional benefit to Disraeli in passing the Second Reform Act was his intense dislike of Ewart Gladstone, the rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone had been present since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1845, and during the 1866 Russel administration Disraeli had cleverly demolished an attempt by Gladstone to push through a Second Reform Bill. If therefore, Gladstone was able to push through a Reform Bill of his own only a year later he would be humiliating the Liberals and in particular Gladstone himself, this is a concept he called, “to dish the Whigs”.
Principally the reasons for Disraeli passing the 1867 Second Reform Act was to gain power for himself among the government, potentially succeeding Derby as the Prime minister. However, his stated political reasons of the time might simply have been said to justify reform amongst his own party.
