Reform Act 1884
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| Long title | An Act to amend the Law relating to the Representation of the People of the United Kingdom. |
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| Citation | 48 & 49 Vict. C. 3 |
| Introduced by | William Gladstone |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 December 1884 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Representation of the People Act 1918 |
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Status: Repealed
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In the United Kingdom, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in Britain 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, and essentially established the modern one member constituency as the normal pattern for Parliamentary representation.
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 British electorate now totalled over 5,500,000. The bill was so objectionable to the House of Lords that Gladstone was forced to redistribute the seats, in another bill: the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 redistributed constituencies, giving more representation to urban areas (especially London).
The 1884 Reform Act did not establish universal suffrage: although the size of the electorate was increased considerably, all women and 40% of adult males 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; but in Ireland, the figure was only one in two.
Section 2: This extended a uniform household and lodger franchise to all parliamentary boroughs and counties in the United Kingdom.
Section 3: Men inhabiting a dwelling-house as an employee, whose employer did not live there, were to be treated for franchise purposes as if they were occupying as tenants.
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