Archive for great reform act
The forgotten liberal hero: Earl Grey
Listen to Liberal Democrats make speeches and there are frequent references to historical figures, but drawn from a small cast. Just the quartet of John Stuart Mill, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, David Penhaligon corner almost all of the market, especially since Bob Maclennan stopped making speeches to party conference. Some of the forgotten figures [...]
Earl Grey 1764–1845: biography
UPDATE: Since this post appeared I have written an expanded version of Earl Grey’s biography. This biography first appeared in the Dictionary of Liberal Biography, produced by the Liberal Democrat History Group. Charles Grey, second Earl Grey, Viscount Howick and Baron Grey, was the Prime Minister who oversaw the Great Reform Act of 1832, which [...]
Do MPs speak too much? A 19th century complaint
Blackwood’s Magazine (November 1833) decried the impact of the Great Reform Act on British politics, saying it had brought forth MPs who spent too much time giving speeches: The Reform Bill … has augmented two-fold that class of orators who spend their breath and not their money in securing their places [i.e. constituencies], and whose [...]
What if … the 1832 Great Reform Act hadn’t happened?
This was my contribution to the collection of historical counter-factuals, President Gore…: and Other Things That Never Happened. At one key stage the Great Reform Bill was passed by a majority of just one. What would have happened if the Bill had instead been defeated at that stage? The general election of July and August [...]
