Third Reform Act, 1884

By the 1880s it was widely recognised that voters in counties deserved the same political rights as those in the boroughs. This led to the 1884 Parliamentary Reform Act:

  • the Act created a uniform franchise for both county and borough
  • it applied to the United Kingdom as a whole
  • it enfranchised a significant number of voters
  • approximately two in three men now had the vote - almost 18 per cent of the total population
  • however, plural voting was permitted (whereby a man could have more than one vote in certain circumstances)
  • Women still did not have the vote
  • MPS were still not given a salary. This made it difficult for men without independent means to become an MP
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