The scepticism surrounding Disraeli’s motives is valid, as despite being a powerful figure in the Conservative Party, Disraeli did not have the trust of his party. Many Tories saw him as disloyal and hungry for power; a reputation he gained from events such as his betrayal of Peel and his deviations in his policies and beliefs. Consequently, Disraeli sought to pass the bill in order to prove himself capable of leading the Conservatives.
In an effort to out-Gladstone and gain the support of the left-wing radicals, the Conservatives introduced a bill that was more far-reaching that many politicians had expected. For the last twenty years the Liberals had been in office and the Conservative Party was desperate for power. The current electoral system; made up largely of the middle-class, favoured the Liberals. Russell’s desire to enfranchise the “respectable working men” was expanded to effectively include most men who lived in urban areas. Disraeli believed that the newly enfranchised men would thank the Conservatives for their newfound political status and would vote for the party.
The political advantage that Disraeli and the Conservative Party sought can be seen as the one reason for the Reform Bill; however there was a growing consensus and demand for further parliamentary reform throughout Britain. An event, which caused considerable public excitement, was the visit of Garibaldi. He had helped unite Italy into one state and was one of Europe’s greatest supporters of parliamentary government. Tens of thousands went to see him arrive in London. The visit showed the attitude and interest of the people towards politics and democracy.
The American Civil War, similarly helped increase public interest in further reform. Although Britain did not intervene in the war, the conflict had a profound effect. The support of the working-class towards the ‘democratic’ North in the Civil War persuaded the government that they had a “moral conscience” and were not the unruly mob they had once thought and that now they had shown they deserved the right to vote.
The Reform union and the Reform League further supported this theory. The pro-reform groups had similar aims but differed in their category of support. The Reform League was mainly a working-class organisation, which wanted universal manhood suffrage. On the other hand, the Reform Union was a mainly middle-class organisation, which amongst other aims, supported the extension of the right to vote to most adult males. These groups held demonstrations of up to 100,000 people at a time to put pressure on the government. Such demonstrations showed both the responsibility of the artisans and the risk of them rioting. Within weeks of taking office, the Conservatives were faced with a political riot in Hyde Park. A meeting by the Reform League ended in a major riot when the police attempted to prevent the meeting taking place. The event caused great alarm, many fearing a return to the revolutionary activity associated with the Great Reform Bill crisis of 1830-32. Despite the events in Hyde Park, the reform groups gained the respect and acknowledgement of leading politicians for the manner they showed during their demonstrations, and largely due to the middle-class support the groups maintained.
Therefore, with growing political support across the country, linked to the Reform Union and Reform League, it could be argued hat the Conservatives were merely bowing to popular pressure. If a reform bill had not been introduced, there would have been danger of growing political unrest and revolutionary activities.
The ability of the Conservative Party, in particular Disraeli, to pass the Reform Bill surprised many and showed that the Party was capable of leadership and reform. Considering the Conservatives Party had formed a minority government, and there was Liberal majority in Parliament, it is considered a huge success that the Bill was passed. How they were able to do this is down to a number of reasons.
The split between the Liberals, which had led to the defeat of their own proposal the year before, persisted into 1867. When Gladstone attempted to defeat the Bill, at its second reading, forty-five Liberals supported the Conservatives and a further twenty-eight abstained from voting. Unlike Gladstone, Disraeli was prepared to accept Liberal amendment rather than risk defeat. The Liberals objected to the ‘fancy franchises’ proposal, and Disraeli dropped it. However, when the amendments came from Gladstone, Disraeli was prepared to use a combination of Tory MP’s and Liberal radicals to defeat the Liberal leadership. He was skilful in keeping his diverse coalition of voters together: right-wing Tories were led to believe the bill was essentially Conservative and were pleased to see Gladstone humiliated. Moderate MPs were persuaded this was the final settlement of the reform issue. Radical MPs were given the impression, rightly, that the Bill could be amended to make it more acceptable.
At the committee stage of the Bill, a radical Liberal-Grosvenor Hodgkinson- introduced an amendment, which simplified the property qualification to vote in borough seat. It added 400,000 to the electorate. Disraeli had earlier opposed a similar amendment to give the vote to compounders when it came from Hugh Childers, a close personal supporter of Gladstone. Disraeli acted strenuously to persuade his party to accept the amendment. In a letter to another Conservative minister, stating why he accepted Hodgkinson’s amendment, Disraeli wrote, ‘We might take a step which would destroy the present agitation and extinguish Gladstone and Co.’
A major reason why the 1832 Reform Act had taken so long to pass was the opposition in the House of Lords. The Conservatives had a large majority in that house, and Lord Derby used his influence to get the Lords to agree to the Bill. Disraeli and Derby both knew that the act needed to be passed quickly, before the Liberals could organise themselves. It was passed in the Lords on 6 August 1867.
When answering ‘Why the Tories passed the Reform Bill in 1867?’ it can be argued that the tenacity and motives of Benjamin Disraeli are as much a reason as the Conservative Party itself. It would be wrong to assume that Disraeli was primarily motivated by the threat of popular pressure. Many ascribe his main motive as entirely party political: destroy Gladstone, consolidate middle class opinion behind the Conservatives, thus keeping the Tories in power, but above all else, strengthen his own position in the party. However, the Conservatives had been out of office for twenty years and many were desperate for power. The split of the Liberals provided the Conservatives with the political opportunity to regain popularity. Many politicians at the time had realised that reform was inevitable and so cynically, sought to be seen in favour of change, in order to gain a political advantage; a view adopted predominantly by Disraeli and the Conservatives. The Tories can also be seen, however to be bowing to popular pressure. At the time there was a growing consensus for reform and organisations such as the Reform Union and Reform League added additional weight to the widespread calling for parliamentary reform. Consequently, from both perspectives, it appears that the Conservatives’ Reform Bill was proposed to appease the people and to regain popularity.
