Editing Borough (section)

=====Parliamentary boroughs=====
{{Further|List of counties and boroughs of the unreformed House of Commons in 1800|Reform Act 1832}}


[[Simon de Montfort's Parliament|From 1265]], two burgesses from each borough were summoned to the [[Parliament of England]], alongside two [[knight]]s from each [[county]]. Thus parliamentary constituencies were derived from the ancient boroughs. Representation in the [[United Kingdom House of Commons|House of Commons]] was decided by the House itself, which resulted in boroughs being established in some small settlements for the purposes of parliamentary representation, despite their possessing no actual corporation.

After the 1832 Reform Act, which disenfranchised many of the [[rotten borough]]s (boroughs that had declined in importance, had only a small population, and had only a handful of eligible voters), parliamentary constituencies began to diverge from the ancient boroughs. While many ancient boroughs remained as municipal boroughs, they were disenfranchised by the Reform Act.