The Parliamentary Reform and Redistribution Act of 1884 - 1885.

The Parliamentary Reform and Redistribution Act of 1884 - 1885

The two acts of Parliament, the Reform Act of 1884 and the Redistribution Act of 1885, which followed, could be seen as the forefront of the Labour Parties development from the 1800’s. The two Acts would radically change and reform the British Political System in years to come by introducing , a dominant party of the peoples needs that would deeply upset the rule of ‘traditional conservatism’ that had been the basis of the Political System for years prior to Labours development.

The 1884 Parliamentary Reform Act

The 1884 Parliamentary Reform Bill was in fact spured on by the 1867 Parliamentary Reform Act, under Disrali, which saw the male working class members gain the right to vote in the major towns, yet not in the counties in England. The Liberal Party Leader, a Mr. William Gladstone saw this, along with many members of his party, as unequal and against there policy of individual freedom. However the Conservative Leader , Lord Salisbury opposed this, and due to the dominance of the Conservative Tradition in Parliament viewed it as an attack on the Tories power and strength in the rural constituencies.

However in 1884, Gladstone refused to be beaten, it is perhaps at this time it can be said that it was the turning point in the British Political System. William Gladstone introduced a proposal that would give the entire working class male the right to vote all over the country thus highlighting the Liberal heart of Gladstone. However although the Act was passed through the first chamber of parliament, the House of Commons it was defeated by the second chamber, the heavily Conservative House of Lords.

Gladstone yet again refused to back down and approached the House of Lords again, with the Lords agreeing to pass the proposals in return for the promise that Gladstone would pass a Redistribution Bill. Gladstone accepted the terms and the 1884 Parliament Act became the Third Reform and ultimately Law. The source below dictates the contents of the Third Reform Act:

Allowed the counties the same franchise as the boroughs

Allowed adult male householders and £10 lodgers the right to vote

Also added about six million to the total number who could vote in parliamentary elections

Source-http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PR1884.htm

This source is supported by:

The act extended the 1867 concessions from the to the countryside. All men paying an annual rental of £10 or all those holding land valued at £10 now had the vote. The British electorate now totaled over 5,500,000. An act a year later redistributed constituencies, giving more representation to urban areas (especially ).

The 1884 Reform Act sought to enfranchise the morally worthy and industrious. Athough the size of the electorate was widened considerably, 40% of adult males were still without the vote at the time.

Source-http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1884

The Redistribution Act 1885

William Gladstone with his Liberal Government followed up the 1884 Third Reform Act with the Redistribution Act of 1885 as they promised to the House of Lords. The Act included many proposals which increased the male voting margin by 25.5% below are those proposals

Seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP

Thirty-six with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies

Towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats;

Larger towns and the country constituencies were divided into single member constituencies.

Source- The 20th Century Mind, C.B Cox and A.E Dyson

Analysis

It is clear to tell from the sources that the Reform Act and the Redistribution Act aided the Working Class in the right to vote thus increasing the ...

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Seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP

Thirty-six with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies

Towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats;

Larger towns and the country constituencies were divided into single member constituencies.

Source- The 20th Century Mind, C.B Cox and A.E Dyson

Analysis

It is clear to tell from the sources that the Reform Act and the Redistribution Act aided the Working Class in the right to vote thus increasing the ability to show their views in Parliament, this meant that a party was needed to work with them and express their views in Parliament, thus enhancing the need for a Labour Party and ultimately starting off the development of the Labour Party which highlights its significance, as were the Liberals able to satisfy the needs of the now eligible and ever increasing Working Class? Bought about by the increasing stress in the workplace, due to Britain suffering from the industrial revolutions in and around Europe. Thus producing a larger and more powerful Working Class. Thanks to what was dubbed, The Late Victorian Crisis.

The Failure of the Liberal Party

As the Parliament Act and the Redistribution Act allowed the freedom to vote to all of the Working Class males, the Parliamentary Parties needed to obtain their vote through co operation and satisfaction of needs for the working class.

The Liberal Party was perhaps the most affiliated of the British Political Parties to the Working Class what with the Conservative Party being of rich and Upper Class origin due to its firmly traditional principles. Due to the Late Victorian Crisis the Liberal Party was deemed as the Working Class Party, with the duty to serve and put forward the views of the working class in Parliament now that they had the 25.5% additional voting power as stated in the Third Parliament Act in 1884.

The Liberals therefore had the responsibility to the Working Class, yet however there was a great disadvantage to the Liberals

The Socialist Movement with The SDF and the Fabian Society

As the Socialist Movement in Britain failed and the Liberal system was crumbling many hundreds of Socialist Societies sprang up around Britain. These influential groups aimed at awakening the public to far better ‘Socialist Britain’. The Societies would be seen to have acted as a catalyst to the development of the Labour Party in years to come. The two main groups that affected the Social understanding of the general public in and around Britain were the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society.

The Social Democratic Federation

While on holiday in the in 1881, read a copy of Karl Marx's Das Capital. Hyndman was deeply influenced by the book and decided to form a political group when he arrived back in England. The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) became the first Marxist political group in Britain and over the next few months Hyndman was able to recruit trade unionists such as and into the organization. , Karl's youngest daughter became a member, and so did the artist and poet, . Other members included , , and . Hyndman became editor of the SDF's newspaper, . By 1885 the organization had over 700 members.

The SDF followed the Marxist ways of the state which in political terms is similar to Communism which follows the belief that the state should be controlled by the state, with the individual working to improve the standards of the community. This would explain its significance to the Labour Party’s development as the socialist principles are similar to those followed by today’s modern Labour Party.

My ideas had been taking a socialistic shape for many years; but they were lacking in definite outline. That outline as regards the industrial situation was given me by reading Hyndman's England for All. Later on in the same year I one evening looked in at a committee meeting of the Social Democratic Federation in Westminster Bridge Road. It was in the basement of one of one of those big buildings facing the House of Commons that I found a group of conspirators sitting. There was Hyndman, occupying the chair, and with him round the table, William Morris, John Burns, H. H. Champion, J. L. Joynes, Herbert Burrows, and others.

Source - joined the Social Democratic Federation in 1883.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Psocial.htm

This source highlights the views of the members of the Social Democratic Party at the begging of its era. The Social Democratic Party, the Federation amalgamated into the Independent Labour Party February of 1900.

The Fabian Society

in October 1883 and decided to form a socialist debating group with their friend . They were also joined by and and in January 1884 they decided to call themselves the Fabian Society. Podmore suggested that the group should be named after the Roman General, Quintus Fabius Maximus, who advocated the weakening the opposition by harassing operations rather than becoming involved in pitched battles.

The Fabians believed that capitalism had created an unjust and inefficient society. They agreed that the ultimate aim of the group should be to reconstruct ‘society in accordance with the highest moral possibilities’. The Fabians rejected the revolutionary socialism of and the and were concerned with helping society to move to a socialist society ‘as painless and effective as possible’.

The Fabians adopted the tactic of trying to convince people by ‘rational factual socialist argument’, rather than the ‘emotional rhetoric and street brawls’ of the . The Fabian group was a "fact-finding and fact-dispensing body" and they produced a series of pamphlets on a wide variety of different social issues.

By 1886 the Fabians had sixty-seven members and an income of £35 19s. The official headquarters of the organisation was 14 Dean's Yard, Westminster, the home of . The Fabian Society journal, Today, was edited by and .

The Fabian’s approach to society by effectively rearranging every ‘nook and cranny’ in the British Political System dominated by the Capitalist Movement.

George Bernard Shaw agreed to take the chair for me at a Fabian Society meeting. The meeting was a great success. Shaw has always been a brilliant speaker as well as a provocative writer. During the early years of the Fabian Society he spoke constantly at public meetings, drawing crowded audiences. He always gave of his best, whether there were two thousand listeners or only twenty. That is the hallmark of the true artist.

Source - , Memoirs (1937)

Analysis

It is clear to see that there were many movements that the Socialist principles were found at the base of. The SDF and its militant action from the highly infamous Karl Marx.is books such as the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital. Which encouraged the extreme action and communist movement. However the Fabian Society could be seen as the opposite, with the same aims, working to effectively change the system from the inside as opposed to direct action of the SDF. This is significant to the essay as it shows the many ways the Labour Party.

It is also significant as the SDF and Fabian Society went on to form the Independent Labout Party and the Labour Representation Committee in the 1900’s due to the collapse of the liberal parties attempts to fully satisfy the needs of the Working Class

The Independent Labour Party and The Labour Representation Committee

This I believe is the first time Britain sees and actual movement towards the completion of a Labour Party for the Working Class. The chapter also shows the work of the Fabian Society and SDF with the collapse of the Liberal attempts to satisfy the working class cause which effectively almalgates all of the above chapters into the final movement which saw a Labour Party inside theHouse of Commons.

The Independent Labour Party

Under the leadership of , the Independent Labour Party was formed in 1893. It was decided that the main objective of the party would be "to secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.

In 1895 the Independent Labour Party had 35,000 members. However, in the n the ILP put up 28 candidates but won only 44,325 votes. All the candidates were defeated but the ILP began to have success in local elections. Over 600 won seats on borough councils and in 1898 the ILP joined with the the to make West Ham the first local authority to have a Labour majority.

This is significant as it shows the first real physical development of a Labour Party in Britain.

The Independent Labour Party however did experience troubles in expanding its popularity around Britain, hence West Ham convinced that to obtain national electoral success, it would be necessary to join with other left-wing groups. This led to the next stage which was the introduction of the Labour Representation Committee on the 27th of February 1900.

On January 13th, 1893, the Independent Labour Party sprang into being, and, as a child of the spirit of Liberty, claims every song that she has sung - in whatever land - as a glorious heritage. Life, lover, liberty, and labour make liquid music. The Labour Party is in league with life, and works for liberty that man may live. The Socialist creed of the 'One body' is a declaration that liberty grows with love, and that therefore life is love's child.

Source - In January 1893, described the formation of the in her diary.

This source simply highlights just how the people were delighted at the final completion of a party worth being part of and that will have influence on the House of Commons.

The Labour Representation Committee

As is states above the ILP needed to find a partner in which to join and expand the cause, thus the joining of the socialist groups in Britain such as the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society, Alongside the Leaders of the ILP to form the Labour Representation Committee on the 27th February 1900.

This committee included two members from the , two from the , one member of the , and seven trade unionists.

was chosen as the secretary of the LRC. As he was financed by his wealthy wife, Margaret MacDonald, he did not have to be paid a salary. The LRC put up fifteen candidates in the 1900 General Election and between them they won 62,698 votes. Two of the candidates, and won seats in the . The party did even better in the 1906 election with twenty nine successful candidates. Later that year the LRC decided to change its name to the Labour Party.

Socialists do not propose by a single Act of Parliament, nor by a sudden revolution, to put all men on an equality, and
compel them to remain so. Socialism is not a wild dream of a happy land, where the apples will drop off the trees into our open mouths, the fish come out ot the rivers and fry themselves for dinner, and the looms turn out ready-made suits of velvet with gold buttons, without the trouble of coaling the engine. Neither is it a dream of a nation of stained-glass angels, who always love their neighbours better than themselves, and who never need to work unless they wish.

Socialism is a scientific scheme of national organization, entirely wise, just, and practical. It is a kind of national cooperation. Its programme consists, essentially, of one demand, that the land, and all other instruments of production and exchange, shall be the common property of the nation, and shall be used and managed by the nation for the nation.

Source - , Merrie England (1894)

From the 20TH Century Mind

Conclusion

It is possible to say that the almalgamtion of the Socialist movements couple with the collapse of the attempts of the Liberal Party , with the Independent Labour Party saw the final and most important creation of the socialist movement in Britain the Labour Representaion Committee.

Source -