Historians, such as Lee, predominantly argue that the Conservative Party’s passing the Second Reform Act was to gain votes for itself. The Conservatives had learnt from the 1832 Whig Reform Act that the party taking the initiative could choose who gained the vote, whereas the party opposing could only expect a period of political exile. The Liberals had been reluctant to lower the property qualification to below £6, as they were unsure as to where the unskilled workers’ allegiances would lie. The Conservatives believed they could capture these votes due to the influence of masters, though this assumption proved to be wrong in the 1868 General Election. Cowling reasons that the Reform act had ‘conservative’ as well as ‘democratic’ implications in that the Conservative Party was able to manipulate the redistribution of seats to favour themselves. Only fifty-two seats were redistributed in England and Wales and twenty-five of these went to the counties to enlarge the Conservative Party franchise. Not only this but the main provincial cities like Manchester were only given one extra seat, leaving them still severely underrepresented. The result of this was that Liberal Party votes were piled up and wasted whilst Conservative votes were much more evenly distributed. Cowling also points out that the Conservatives were able to manipulate the boundaries of the counties to increase their stronghold there. However, it cannot be ignored that more than half of the redistributed seats were put in place where they were most needed. Many of Disraeli’s supporters argue that the Conservative Party was continuing the reform of ‘proven abuses’ began by Peel, though this is fairly unlikely considering Disraeli’s hatred of Peel. The extension of the Conservative Party franchise was certainly a predominant motivation for the Conservatives passing the Second Reform Act.
Historians often emphasise the external pressure for reform at the time as a reason for the passage of the Second Reform Act. Blake contends that Disraeli and the Conservative Party bowed to popular pressure, principally from the National Reform Union and the Reform League. Over one hundred thousand people at the Hyde Park riot in July 1866 undoubtedly created a certain amount of fear within the Party. Harrison argues that extra-parliamentary agitation not only moved the issue of reform to centre stage but also motivated each party to take on the issue, as the party that passed the reform would be the one to gain the support of this mass movement. The Conservative Party not only wanted reform to appease the masses but also to gain their support. However. Pearce points out that the National Reform Union believed that members of the middle and working classes should unite against the landowning class, represented by the Conservative Party. Many of the people that would be enfranchised would be strongly opposed to the Conservatives, so this would certainly not endear them to the Reform Act. The Conservative Party may well have passed the Second Reform Act as a response to popular pressure, though not necessarily because the wanted the people in favour of reform to get the vote.
Adelman argues that the lack of opposition to reform was the reason that the Conservative Party passed the Second Reform Act. He points out that the Death of Palmerston, the most outspoken opponent to reform, in 1865 created a more ‘fluid’ situation and a possibility of realignment of political forces in which the Conservative Party could benefit. Historians also argue that the Act was initially much more moderate than the 1866 Bill had been and so it was able to gain the support of both the Conservative backbench and the Adullemites, who caused the defeat of the 1866 Bill – though it became much more radical once it had been through Parliament. The lack of opposition to the Reform Act allowed it to be passed but the Conservatives as a group were much more motivated by other factors, like self-aggrandisement.
It cannot be said that one reason alone caused the Conservatives to pass the Second Reform Act. However, it does seem that the hope of increasing Conservative seats was the predominant motivation as the Party was in a minority at the time. With this, of course, also came the weakening of the Liberals, which was especially important to Disraeli. The lack of opposition to the Act created a situation in which it was possible to be passed, but this did not cause its passing. The popular pressure for reform did elevate the issue of reform, but it did not necessarily make it politically viable as the opportunity to manipulate the Act did.
