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1.2 A wider franchise and debates over suffrage - Coggle Diagram
1.2 A wider franchise and debates over suffrage
1900s
Suffragist groups
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) had been peacefully campaigning
1903:
• The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters
• Had been taking direct action to get women the vote
Were subject to police brutality and forced feeding (when on hunger strike)
Actions of these groups and role women played in WWI led to women getting the vote
Sacrifice of working-class men in WWI meant universal male suffrage from 21 was also introduced
1918 - women first given vote at 30
1928 - voting age reduced to 21
Pre-1832
The franchise has grown over time with groups campaigning and fighting to gain the vote
19th century: only a small number of wealthy men could vote (some several times) - constituencies varied in size (some only having a handful of voters)
Voting was done publicly = everyone knew how one voted (encouraging bribery or pressure)
Some elections were uncontested = the only candidate won (often chosen by a local member of the aristocracy - the highest class)
1832 Great Reform Act
Expanded the vote to middle-class property-owning men - 300,000 men gained the vote (now 20% of men, 5.6 of the total population, could vote)
Chartists were a group that campaigned for the franchise to be extended to:
• All men aged 21+
• Payment of MPs
• A secret ballot
• No property qualification for MPs
• Equal size constituencies, and
• Annual Parliamentary elections
1867 Great Reform Act
Extended the vote to skilled workers - men who paid their own rates and had been resident of a property for 1 year
Removed many rotten boroughs
Gave MPs to industrial towns and cities that had not had MPs
700,000
men gained the vote
Late 1800s
1884 Reform Act
Added 2.5m male voters
Gave the vote to a number of working-class men for the 1st time
Remained biased towards the heads of households (= older rather than younger men)
Complex registration system prevented many of the working-class from voting
1885 Redistribution Act
Conservative government redrew boundaries of constituencies
Constituencies were now to be roughly the same size and based on 'pursuits of the people'
Led to the creation of middle-class constituencies in 'Villa Toryism' (e.g: Sheffield Hallam)
1872 Secret Ballot Act
Declared that voting is now done in secret
Placed limits on spending and transporting voters to polling stations
1969
Voting age for men and women was reduced to 18
Was a reaction to social change with 18-year-old's being seen as being more economically and politically aware
At 18, people could:
• marry without parental consent
• own or rent property
• make a will
• have children
= made sense to give them to vote
Wasn't a mass campaign = change came more from a realisation of the impact of improved education, health and mass media
(18-year-olds were different to how they had been)