Page 48 - History 2020

Or maybe not so barmy. Bagehot’s thinking had long been part of the British

Constitution, and continued after Victorian times. It is not generally known that ever
since the 17th century, the people he called “the better classes, the more instructed
classes, the more opulent classes” had more than one vote each. If you owned
property or a business in a different constituency to where you lived, you could vote
in both constituencies. And if you were a graduate or had some other link with a
university, you were allowed to vote in the constituency where it was located as well
as your own.

It is generally assumed that in 1918 Britain became a democracy, on the basis of “one
man, one vote” (plus women over 30). Not so. The traditional practice of allowing
plural voting to the rich and privileged continued. In 1918, the law extending the vote
also combined universities into notional “constituencies”, with their own MPs, to
allow graduates associated with them to continue to have an additional vote. Plural
voting was also kept for property owners, but limited to one extra vote. These
ancient anachronisms were only abolished in 1949, by Atlee’s Labour government.

Even then, plural voting by property-owners was allowed to continue in local
elections, and only ended in 1969. It still applies in votes for the City of London
Corporation.

Dropping down the league table
The assumption that Britain led the way in extending the vote was true early in the
Victorian era. The 1832 Reform Act enfranchised a larger proportion of men than
nearly any other country. But after 1850, we began to be overtaken, falling behind

many European countries, America and the Dominions. By 1900 we had slipped well
behind most of Europe. A large proportion of the men who fought and died in the
trenches between 1914and 1918 never got to vote, even though US President Wilson
said the war was “to make the world safe for democracy”.

The Great Victorian Prime Ministers

What were Victorian Prime Ministers like? Before the Victorian era, the role was
rather secluded. A Prime Minister would meet the Cabinet and attend Parliament
when it was in session. But the Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884 changed this.
They gradually widened the vote to about 40% of the adult male population, which
meant that Prime Ministers needed to get out more, and meet and persuade the
voters. To succeed, they increasingly had to become political celebrities, with a more
developed public persona and appeal.
Sir Robert Peel was the first to do this. He was brilliant, but came across as cold and
remote. A critic said his smile was like a silver coffin-plate. He loathed the 1832

Reform Act but his political vision was to modernise the Conservative Party - he