Outline of Events

The death of Lord Palmerston in 1865 revitalized British politics. For ten years his charismatic personality had dominated Westminster, and with his demise a host of personalities and issues asserted their claims to attention. First among these was Lord John Russell. Despite having played a prominent part in passing the 1832 Reform Act, and serving as prime minister in the late 1840s, Russell had found his career blocked by Palmerston's popularity, and his hopes of revisiting the subject of reform had been frustrated. Now again the leader of a Liberal government, he moved quickly to bring forward a Reform Bill, the passage of which through the Commons was delegated to William Gladstone. This 1866 Reform Bill was a moderate one, lowering the voting qualification in boroughs from the occupancy of a house commanding a rent of £10 per annum to one liable to an annual rent of £7. It was intended, thereby, to enfranchise the skilled working class, who were not only associated with an estimable sobriety but also had the additional virtue of being expected to vote Liberal. Unfortunately, Russell and Gladstone had not anticipated the emergence of a group of about 40 Liberal MPs vehemently opposed to extending the vote to the uneducated working class. Led by Robert Lowe, these Adullamites were able to defeat the measure by allying with the Conservatives. The government resigned and a Tory administration was formed, with Lord Derby as prime minister and Benjamin Disraeli as leader of the House of Commons. What should this government do about Reform? Disraeli preferred to do nothing. But the emergence of a popular protest movement, triggered by the failure of the Liberal Bill, persuaded Derby that it would benefit the Conservatives to bring forward their own Bill, rather than allow the Liberals to take up reform at the earliest opportunity. The result was a proposal to extend the vote in the Boroughs to all men who personally paid rates (household suffrage). To counterbalance the radicalism of this measure, additional votes were to be given to members of the propertied class (the Fancy Franchises).