Votes for (a few more) men

The 1867 reform act  gave the vote to every male adult householder living in a borough constituency with male lodgers paying £10 for unfurnished rooms also granted the vote. This gave the vote to a grand total of about 1,500,000 men; around 2 in 5. Like all the other reform acts, it was hardly radical and can be viewed either as a rather weak attempt to appease moderates, or simply to calm radicals and prevent a revolution.

Or rather cynically, it could be seen as an attempt to appeal to a new stock of enfranchised voters, such as the Tory politician Lord Derby, who originally described his supporting the second Reform Act (1867) as ‘a leap in the dark’. It was the 19th century “hug a hoodie”; an attempt to get Conservative Party seen as compassionate and progressive to the working classes.

(3rd August 1867)

Randolph Churchill: a most aggravating boy

 

Much like his son, Randolph Churchill was very much an independent spirit that rubbed many of his peers (as well as many of the peers) up the wrong way. In particular, he advocated a much more progressive form of conservatism, which irked many of his colleagues, but he was nonetheless able to continue working with them.

(07-07-1883)

 

 

 

Conservative Policy

HAVE THE TORIES A POLICY ?

THE Conservative journals keep up a perpetual squabbling among themselves upon the question, whether their party has or has not a policy? The rabid protestants revile Lord Derby and Mr Disraeli as traitors to religion and the constitution, and the modera’e Tones scoff at the fanatics as  impracticable asses, who would risk a rebellion for the sake of an anti popery cant cry.

(September 1856)

And why would that be?

I’m just going to pop a picture of Eric Pickles in for no reason whatsoever.

He does have a wonderfully Dickensian name, does our Eric. A penny for little Eric Pickles, the orphan-boy? Just rolls off the tongue.

(11th December 1918)