# Canonical recap data for Representation of the People Act (1884)
# Source: https://recap.at/1884/representation-people-act
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: representation-people-act
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1884/representation-people-act"
title: Representation of the People Act
subtitle: Britain's Third Reform Act extended the franchise to working-class males and rural voters, doubling the electorate and accelerating the transition toward democratic representation.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1884-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1884
decade: 1880
country:
name: United Kingdom
slug: united-kingdom
summaryShort: In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884, also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in the UK after the Derby government's Reform Act 1867.
summaryLong: In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884, also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in the UK after the Derby government's Reform Act 1867. Taken together, these measures extended the same voting qualifications as existed in the towns to the countryside, more than doubling the electorate in the counties, and essentially established the modern one member constituency as the normal pattern for parliamentary representation.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Detail_House_of_Commons.JPG/1280px-Detail_House_of_Commons.JPG"
heroImageCredit: Sir George Hayter (1792-1871) · via Wikipedia
importance: 79
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1884"
  title: Representation of the People Act 1884
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- election
metaDescription: "In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884, also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and "
wikidataQid: Q7314210
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260507134716/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1884"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-07
  label: Representation of the People Act 1884
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1884"
