1867 Representation of the

People Act (Second Reform

Act):

This gave the vote to

working class men for the 1928 Representation of the
first time. People Act (Equal Franchise Act):

1918 Representation of the This granted, for the first time,

People Act: equal voting rights to women and
men, as well as, right campaigned
Following pressure from the for rights to equal pay, franchise,
Suffragettes, and the success access to the legal profession,
1832 Great Reform Act:
of working women during sexual conduct, and morals etc.
Addressed the issue of ‘rotten boroughs’; constituencies World War One, the right to As a result, both men and women
where very few voters (sometimes single figures) returned vote was granted to women could vote at the age of 21.
MPs. over the age of 30 who met a
property qualification, and 1969 Representation of the
The Act disenfranchised 56 boroughs in England and Wales all men over the age of 21. People Act:
and reduced another 31 to only one MP and created 67
This finally extended the franchise
new constituencies and gave the vote to householders who
to men and women over the age
paid a yearly rental of £10 or more. However, following this
of 18.
Act, most working men still could not vote.

Widening the Franchise

Extending the Franchise

Who Can Vote?

All men and women over the Case Study: Hirst V UK (2005)
age of 18 and are resident of
Hirst attempted to have the franchise extended to at least
the UK can vote in GE.
some prisoners.
-With the exception of
-This was begun by the legal challenges of John Hirst and
prisoners or mental health
following the ruling of the ECHR in Hirst V UK, which declared
patient who have been
a blanket on all prisoners was a violation of their human
disenfranchised- so, in effect,
rights. Other groups (Prions reform trust, Amnesty
lose part of their citizenship.
International) have also campaigned to let some prisoners
have the right to vote.

-The high court dismissed the appeal in 2001 but another

appeal was launched under the HRA which was successfully
upheld.
 6., The idea of ‘no taxation
without representation’ was
also relevant- if people are
3., Being elected by everyone over made to give away some of
the age of 18 means that their income to the
representatives have to take the government, it was only fair
concerns of (nearly) all adults into that they had a say in how this
account, regardless of gender, class money was spent.
background, ethnicity and so on. 5., It enhances the UK’s
democratic character and helps
2., Prior to this, elected politicians to make politicians accountable
were chosen by a small group of the for their actions.
landed gentry, and as a result, these
politicians only considered the
4., It also has educational
interests of this very small group.
benefits as people may be
encouraged to take an interest
1., Extending the right to vote was
in politics if they know they
important because it increases
can choose their MP, for
representation amongst the people.
example.

Why was extending the franchise important?

Extending the Franchise

 -Although, it could be argued that - Even with small majorities,
despite these concerns, governments can pass most of its
Parliament is still able to hold the legislation without amendments, and
executive to account. so can, therefore, act as they wish.

Major constitutional change has Lord Hailsham coined the phrase

occurred without any opposition to it, ‘elective dictatorship’ in the 1970s,
for example, the introduction of fixed- arguing that the only real check on
term parliaments in 2011, and the government power is a general
devolving of more powers to devolved election every five years or so
governments.

The Relationship between the

Parliament and the Executive

Has the balance of power between Parliament and the

executive changed in recent years?

The main factors to suggest that
Parliament has become more significant
and powerful are that it must be
consulted over measures such as
military action, the increasing right of
Parliament to independently select its
own officers.
Despite this, it has been argued that
the executive is still dominant- it has
responded to the above by increasing
the size of the ‘payroll vote’ of
ministers and PPSs, and party control
through the whips remains strong.

(for example, the speaker and select committee

chairs), the ability of the Backbench Business
committee in setting part of the parliamentary agenda,
and the increasing assertiveness of the Lords.