Was Disraeli a Genuine Supporter of Parliamentary Reform by 1867?
Was Disraeli a Genuine Supporter of Parliamentary Reform by 1867?
In 1867 a Bill was passed extending the limits to which voters were bound by. It meant that Disraeli could use this new voting populous to help his party gain power or that it was a result of his genuine desire for democracy. Robert Lowe believed that Disraeli used the reform bills to his political advantage, writing in 1867, “They were to enjoy the popularity that is caught by bringing them in”. AJP Taylor highlights that Disraeli wanted populous voting, “Disraeli made mass parties inevitable”.
However in 1859 Disraeli was opposed to such reform because he thought suffrage should be permitted by qualities such as intelligence and not by your mere existence. Speaking in 1865 Disraeli said, “My present opinion is opposed, as it originally was, to any course of the kind,” referring to the modification of the franchise to allow more voting. At this point, Disraeli objected to increasing the voting populous because he felt “suffrage should remain a privilege”. It is obvious that he was not a supporter of parliamentary reform because he believed it would subsequently change the constitution. In 1866 he made a passionate speech against universal suffrage claiming it would lead to “the rule of mobs in great towns”. So if Disraeli was opposed to reform in 1865 and 1866, the years leading up to the bill in 1867 was he a supporter of them in 1867?
