# Canonical recap data for Reform Act Passes Parliament (1832)
# Source: https://recap.at/1832/great-reform-act
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: great-reform-act
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1832/great-reform-act"
title: Reform Act Passes Parliament
aliases:
- First Reform Act
- Great Reform Act
- Representation of the People Act 1832
- 1832 Reform
subtitle: The Great Reform Act extended the franchise and redistributed parliamentary seats, establishing the foundation for modern representative democracy in Britain.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1832-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1832
decade: 1830
country:
name: United Kingdom
slug: united-kingdom
summaryShort: The Representation of the People Act 1832, also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to reform the electoral system in England and Wales and to expand the franchise. The measure was brought forward by the Whig government of Prime Minister
summaryLong: The Representation of the People Act 1832, also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to reform the electoral system in England and Wales and to expand the franchise. The measure was brought forward by the Whig government of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey.
lede: On June 7, 1832, Britain's Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act, fundamentally overhauling a electoral system that had barely changed in centuries. The act expanded voting rights to include middle-class men, redrew parliamentary districts to reflect actual population centers, and stripped representation from depopulated "rotten boroughs." It didn't create democracy—working people and all women remained disenfranchised—but it marked the beginning of the end for aristocratic electoral monopoly.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Stoneware_Reform_Bill_spirit_flats_%28Derbyshire%2C_1832%29.jpg/1280px-Stoneware_Reform_Bill_spirit_flats_%28Derbyshire%2C_1832%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Brigade Piron · via Wikipedia
importance: 81
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Year passed
  value: "1832"
- label: New voters enfranchised
  value: Approximately 217,000
- label: Percentage of adult males who could vote after reform
  value: Approximately 7%
- label: Rotten boroughs eliminated
  value: "56"
- label: Prime Minister who championed the act
  value: Charles Grey (2nd Earl Grey)
- label: Parliamentary attempts before passage
  value: 2 failed bills (1831)
- label: Voting qualification threshold
  value: £10 annual property rental value (England/Wales)
- label: New seats created for industrial towns
  value: Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and other cities gained representation for first time
timeline:
- date: 1830-11-15
  title: Grey government takes office
  description: Charles Grey's Whig administration commits to electoral reform as a priority.
- date: 1831-03-01
  title: First Reform Bill introduced
  description: Grey presents the initial version of the Representation of the People Act to Parliament.
- date: 1831-04-22
  title: First Reform Bill defeated
  description: The bill fails to pass third reading; the government calls a general election to seek a mandate.
- date: 1831-05-18
  title: General election held
  description: Voters return a Parliament with a clear Whig majority supporting reform.
- date: 1831-06-24
  title: Second Reform Bill introduced
  description: Grey reintroduces a revised version of the bill to the newly elected Parliament.
- date: 1831-09-22
  title: Reform Bill passes Commons
  description: The Commons approves the bill; it heads to the House of Lords, where opposition is fierce.
- date: 1831-10-08
  title: Lords reject Reform Bill
  description: The House of Lords defeats the bill, triggering widespread public outrage and riots in several cities.
- date: 1831-10-10
  title: Bristol riots erupt
  description: Angry crowds set fires and attack buildings in Bristol; troops kill dozens in response.
- date: 1832-04-20
  title: Third Reform Bill passes Commons
  description: A third version clears the House of Commons with strong support.
- date: 1832-06-07
  title: Reform Act receives Royal Assent
  description: King William IV finally agrees to the bill, effectively ending Lords resistance; the act becomes law.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Act_1832"
  title: Reform Act 1832
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The Reform Act shattered the fiction that Parliament represented the nation. By enfranchising roughly 217,000 new voters (mostly property-owning merchants and manufacturers) and eliminating grotesque anomalies like Old Sarum's two seats for 23 people, it legitimized the institution just enough to prevent revolutionary upheaval. The act opened the door to successive expansions of the franchise that would eventually lead to universal male suffrage and, decades later, women's voting rights.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- constitutional_reform
- parliamentary_crisis
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: Britain's 1832 electoral reform expanded voting rights and redrawn constituencies, breaking aristocratic control of Parliament.
wikidataQid: Q1619120
peoplesVoice:
- source: Earl Grey, Prime Minister
  voiceType: official
  context: Grey championed the Reform Act as essential to prevent revolution and modernise Parliament after years of agitation.
  excerpt: The passing of this measure is a triumph for the cause of rational liberty and the best security against those revolutionary principles which threaten our institutions.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Speech to Parliament, June 1832
  publishedAt: 1832-06-07
  originalLanguage: en
- source: The Duke of Wellington, Former PM and Conservative Leader
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Wellington had opposed reform vigorously but grudgingly accepted the outcome as inevitable after the bill's passage.
  excerpt: I have never read or heard of any measure so absurd as the present...yet it has become the law of the land.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Private correspondence, July 1832
  publishedAt: 1832-07-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John Stuart Mill, Philosopher and Reform Advocate
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Mill assessed the Reform Act as a significant but incomplete step toward true democratic representation.
  excerpt: This Act extends the suffrage, yet leaves untouched the greater evil - the exclusion of women and the working classes remain outside the pale of political power.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Mill's writings on representation, 1832-1833
  publishedAt: 1832-12-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: The Times Editorial Board
  voiceType: media
  context: The Times reported on Reform Act passage as a watershed moment, though with measured optimism about its effects.
  excerpt: A new era commences for England. The middle classes have gained their rightful voice, though the experiment upon which we embark remains untested.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 80
  attribution: The Times leading article, June 5, 1832
  publishedAt: 1832-06-05
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Harriet Martineau, Writer and Social Commentator
  voiceType: expert
  context: Martineau, a keen observer of social reform, noted both the Act's progressive nature and its deliberate limitations.
  excerpt: The Reform has satisfied the ambitions of the middle class, but the labouring poor behold in it merely the substitution of one oligarchy for another.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Martineau's social commentary, 1832-1833
  publishedAt: 1832-09-20
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260608071657/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Act_1832"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-08
  label: Reform Act 1832
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Act_1832"
