Editing Reform Act 1832 (section)

===Provisions===

====Abolition of seats====
[[File:Sheffield Typographical Society - Reform Act.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Poster issued by the [[Sheffield]] Typographical Society celebrating the passing of the Reform Act]]

The Reform Act's chief objective was the reduction of the number of nomination boroughs. There were 203 boroughs in England before the Act.{{efn|Including Monmouth, considered part of Wales under sections 1, 20 and 269 of the [[Local Government Act 1972]] (cap. 70). The [[Interpretation Act 1978]] (cap. 30) provides that before 1 April 1974, "a reference to England includes [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]] and [[Monmouthshire]]".}} The 56 smallest of these, as measured by their housing stock and tax assessments, were completely abolished. The next 30 smallest boroughs each lost one of their two MPs. In addition [[Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Weymouth and Melcombe Regis]]'s four members were reduced to two. Thus in total the Act abolished 143 borough seats in England (one of the boroughs to be completely abolished, [[Higham Ferrers (UK Parliament constituency)|Higham Ferrers]], returned only a single MP).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/higham-ferrers| title=Higham Ferrers. Borough |work=History of Parliament| access-date = 14 September 2021}}</ref>

====Creation of new seats====
In their place the Act created 130 new seats in England and Wales:
* 26 English counties were divided into two divisions with each division being represented by two members.
* 8 English counties and 3 Welsh counties each received an additional representative.
* Yorkshire, which was represented by four MPs before the Act, was given an extra two MPs (so that each of its three [[Riding (division)|ridings]] was represented by two MPs).
* 22 large towns were given two MPs.
* Another 21 towns (of which two were in Wales) were given one MP.

Thus 65 new county seats and 65 new borough seats were created in England and Wales. The total number of English members fell by 17 and the number in Wales increased by four.{{efn|Wales did not lose any of its existing borough representatives because with the exception of Beaumaris and Montgomery these members represented groups of towns rather than an individual town. To enable Wales to retain all of its existing borough seats the Act therefore simply increased, where necessary, the number of towns in these groupings and created entirely new groupings for Beaumaris and Montgomery.}} The boundaries of the new divisions and parliamentary boroughs were defined in a separate Act, the [[Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832]].

====Extension of the franchise====
In county constituencies, franchise rights were extended to [[Copyhold|copyholders]] and long-term (at least sixty years) leaseholders of land with at least £10{{efn|name=ten1832|£10 was equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|10|1832|fmt=c|r=-2}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}} terms in 1832.{{Inflation/fn|UK}}}} annual value, medium-term (between twenty and sixty years) leaseholders of land with at least £10 annual value, and to [[tenants-at-will]] paying an annual rent of at least £50{{efn|name=fifty1832|£50 was equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|50|1832|fmt=c|r=-2}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}} terms in 1832.{{Inflation/fn|UK}}}}. Annual value refers to the rent at which the land might reasonably be expected to be let from year to year. (The franchise rights of 40 shilling freeholders were retained.)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Reform Act of 1832 |url=http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/refact/refact.htm |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=www.historyhome.co.uk}}</ref>

The property qualifications of borough franchise were standardised to male occupants of property who paid a yearly rental of £10{{efn|name=ten1832}} or more. The property could be a house, warehouse, counting-house, shop, or other building as long as it was occupied, and occupied for at least 12 months.<ref>Johnston, Neil. ''The History of Parliamentary Franchise''. London: House of Commons Library, 2013. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/rp13-14/.</ref> Existing borough electors retained a lifetime right to vote, however they had qualified, provided they were resident in the boroughs in which they were electors. In those boroughs which had freemen electors, voting rights were to be enjoyed by future freemen as well, provided their freemanship was acquired through birth or apprenticeship and they too were resident.{{efn|Immediately after 1832, more than a third of borough electors—over 100,000—were "ancient right" electors, the greater proportion being freemen. Their numbers dwindled by death, and by 1898 apparently only one ancient right "potwalloper" remained a registered elector.}}

The Act also introduced a system of [[voter registration]], to be administered by the [[Overseer of the poor|overseers of the poor]] in every parish and township. It instituted a system of special courts to review disputes relating to voter qualifications. It also authorised the use of multiple polling places within the same constituency, and limited the duration of polling to two days. (Formerly, polls could remain open for up to fifteen days.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burlock |first=Hillary |date=2023-07-03 |title=Georgian Elections: the Basics |url=https://ecppec.ncl.ac.uk/features/georgian-elections-the-basics/ |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=ECPPEC |language=en-US}}</ref>)

The Reform Act itself did not affect constituencies in Scotland or Ireland. However, there were also reforms there, under the [[Scottish Reform Act 1832|Scottish Reform Act]] and the [[Irish Reform Act 1832|Irish Reform Act]]. Scotland received eight additional seats, and Ireland received five; thus keeping the total number of seats in the House of Commons the same as it had been before the Act. While no constituencies were disfranchised in either of those countries, voter qualifications were standardised and the size of the electorate was increased in both.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}