thumb|right|167px|[[William Ewart Gladstone in 1884.]]

In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3), 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.

The bill was introduced by Gladstone on 28 February 1884. The Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the bill on 17 July but then passed it. It gained royal assent on 6 December of that year.

The act extended the 1867 concessions from the boroughs to the countryside. All men paying an annual rental of £10 and all those holding land valued at £10 now had the vote. The bill was so objectionable to the House of Lords that Gladstone was forced to separate the legislation into two bills, the second being the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which redistributed constituencies in order to equalise representation within constituencies across the UK.

The 1884 Reform Act did not establish universal suffrage: although the size of the electorate was increased considerably, all women and 40% of men were still without the vote. Male suffrage varied throughout the kingdom, too: in England and Wales, two in three adult males had the vote; in Scotland, three in five did; in Ireland, the figure was one in two. and eventually the passage of the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886, which addressed many of their grievances and put an end to the Highland Clearances.

See also

  • Democracy in Europe
  • Reform Acts
  • Representation of the People Act
  • Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918
  • Medical Relief Disqualification Removal Act 1885

Notes

References

  • The Statutes: Second Revised Edition, Vol. XVI 1884–1886, (printed by authority 1900)
  • Digital reproduction of the Original Act on the Parliamentary Archives catalogue