An Act to Amend the Law with respect to Parliamentary and Local Government Franchises, and the Registration of Parliamentary and Local Government Electors, and the conduct of elections, and to provide for the Redistribution of Seats at Parliamentary Elections, and for other purposes connected therewith.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act.[1] The act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also known as the right to vote, to men aged over 21, whether or not they owned property, and to women aged over 30 who resided in the constituency whilst occupying land or premises with a rateable value above £5, or whose husbands did.[2][3] At the same time, it extended the local government franchise to include women aged over 30 on the same terms as men.[4]:xxv It came into effect at the 1918 general election.
As a result of the act, the male electorate was extended by 5.2 million[2] to 12.9 million.[5] The female electorate was 8.5 million.[6][3] The act also created new electoral arrangements, including making residence in a specific constituency the basis of the right to vote and institutionalising the first-past-the-post method of election.
It was not until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 12) that women gained electoral equality. The 1928 act gave the vote to all women aged over 21, regardless of any property qualification, which added another five million women to the electorate.[7]
After the Third Reform Act in 1884, 60% of male householders over the age of 21 had the vote.[8] This left 40% who did not – including the poorest in society. Thus millions of soldiers returning from World War I would still not have been entitled to vote in the long overdue general election.[citation needed] (The last election had been in December 1910.
The issue of a female right to vote first gathered momentum during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1865, the Kensington Society, a discussion group for middle-class women who were barred from higher education, met at the home of India scholar Charlotte Manning in Kensington. Following a discussion on suffrage, a small informal committee was formed to draft a petition and gather signatures, led by women including Barbara Bodichon, Emily Davies, and Elizabeth Garrett. In 1869, John Stuart Mill published The Subjection of Women in which he attempted to make a case for perfect equality.[9][10] He described the role of women in marriage and how it needed to be changed, and comments on three major facets of women's lives that he felt were hindering them: society and gender construction, education, and marriage. He argued that the oppression of women was one of the few remaining relics from ancient times, a set of prejudices that severely impeded the progress of humanity.[9][11] He agreed to present a petition to Parliament, provided it had at least 100 signatures, and the first version was drafted by his step-daughter, Helen Taylor.[12]
The suffragist Millicent Fawcett suggested that the women's right to vote issue was the main reason for the Speaker's Conference[further explanation needed] in 1917.[13] She was frustrated by the resultant age limit, though recognising that there were one and a half million more women than men in the country at the time (due to the loss of life in the First World War), accepted that this would not have wide, cross-party support; many of those in favour of suffrage at the Speaker's Conference still wanted to maintain a male majority. Recalling Disraeli's quip, she noted that Britain "is governed not by logic, but by Parliament".[14]:138–142
The Home Secretary, George Cave (Con) within the governing coalition introduced the bill:
War by all classes of our countrymen has brought us nearer together, has opened men’s eyes, and removed misunderstandings on all sides. It has made it, I think, impossible that ever again, at all events in the lifetime of the present generation, there should be a revival of the old class feeling which was responsible for so much, and, among other things, for the exclusion for a period, of so many of our population from the class of electors. I think I need say no more to justify this extension of the franchise.[15]
As well, another electoral reform had been debated and only partially implemented – the elimination of plural voting. Between 1906 and 1914, the Liberal Party had been intent on passing a bill to prevent electors whose names appeared on the electoral register more than once from voting more than once. However, Parliament shelved the bill when the First World War started.[16]
Section 8(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1918 partially reduced plural voting, providing that "a man shall not vote at a general election ... for more than one constituency for which he is registered by virtue of other qualifications [than a residence qualification] of whatever kind, and a woman shall not vote at a general election ... for more than one constituency for which she is registered by virtue of any other qualification [than a local government qualification]". As a result, no one was allowed to vote more than twice in a general election of the House of Commons.[17]
The bill was introduced in May 1917 with various stages taking place during the rest of the year, then into 1918.[18][19][20] The number of attending members in both Houses was much lower than would be expected due to active military service.[21]
The Speakers' Conference of 1917 had recommended a form of proportional representation to be enacted, but this proved a highly contentious topic through differences of the methods between the two Houses. The final votes of the Bill took place on the very last day of the parliamentary session with the Act including a section arranging for a royal commission to consider whether "one hundred members shall be elected to the House of Commons at a general election on the principle of proportional representation for constituencies in Great Britain returning three or more members".[21] The subsequent commission was held two months after the act was passed and was rejected by the House of Commons.[21]
The very final vote on 6 February 1918 in the House of Commons that led to royal assent of the bill was passed with 224 Ayes to 114 Noes.[22]
The Representation of the People Act 1918 widened suffrage by abolishing practically all property qualifications for men and by enfranchising women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications. The enfranchisement of this latter group was accepted as recognition of the contribution made by women defence workers. However, women were still not politically equal to men (who could vote from the age of 21); full electoral equality was achieved in Ireland in 1922, but did not occur in Britain until the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo. 5. c. 12).[citation needed]
Statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.All men over 21 gained the vote in the constituency where they were resident. Men who had turned 19 during service in connection with World War I could also vote even if they were under 21, although there was some confusion over whether they could do so after being discharged from service. The Representation of the People Act 1920 clarified this in the affirmative, albeit after the 1918 general election.
Women over 30 years old received the vote if they were registered property occupiers (or married to a registered property occupier) of land or premises with a rateable value greater than £5 or of a dwelling-house and not subject to any legal incapacity, or were graduates voting in a university constituency.
All polls for an election to be held on a specified date, rather than over several days in different constituencies as previously.[24]
The act added 8.4 million women to the electorate as well as 5.6 million men. It was therefore the largest of all the UK Reform Acts in terms of electorate addition.[citation needed]
The costs incurred by returning officers were for the first time to be paid by the Treasury. Prior to the 1918 general election, the administrative costs were passed on to the candidates to pay in addition to their expenses.[1]
An Act for the further regulating elections of members to serve in Parliament, and for the preventing irregular proceedings of sheriffs and other officers in the electing and returning such members.
The whole act (except sections sixty-six, seventy, and seventy-six, and the definition of "returning officer" in section seventy-nine); the words "barrister, overseer," in section seventy-six wherever they occur.
The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1832.
Sections two to four, six to thirteen; section twenty-seven; section twenty-eight; section thirty-five; section thirty-six, so far as relating to town clerks or deputy town clerks being entitled to vote; section thirty-seven; section forty; section forty-two, and the schedules so far as unrepealed.
The whole act (except sections eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-five to ninety, ninety-three, and ninety-seven, and the definition of "returning officer" in section one hundred and one), the word "overseer" in section ninety-seven.
The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act, 1850.
The whole act so far as unrepealed (except sections eighty-eight to ninety-seven and sections one hundred and three, one hundred and eight, and one hundred and eighteen).
In section one the words "for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and" the words "to the Vice-Chancellors of the said Universities and" and the words "Vice-Chancellors and"; sections four and five.
The whole act (except sections one, two, seven, thirty-seven, forty-nine to fifty-two, fifty-seven, fifty-nine, and sixty-one, and Schedule H.); section fifty-nine from "and in construing" to the end of the section.
The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act, 1868.
Sections three to six, sections eight to fourteen, sections sixteen to twenty, sections twenty-two, twenty-four, twenty-six, thirty-seven to forty-two, forty-five, forty-seven to fifty, fifty-three, fifty-five, fifty-six, and in section fifty-nine the definition of "premises," and Schedules A., B., C., D., and I.
The Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869.
Section seven so far as it relates to franchise and any disqualification which depends on franchise; section ten, and section nineteen so far as it relates to franchise and any disqualification which depends on franchise.
Section five; section eight from "all expenses" to "by law payable," and (except as respects Scotland and Ireland) from "where the sheriff" to the end of the section; subsection (5) of section sixteen, subsection (4) of section seventeen, sections eighteen and nineteen, section twenty-five from "or where" to "is proved on such trial to have voted at such election" and from "or so retained" to end of the section; section thirty-three from "and shall continue in force" to the end of the section; rules 3 and 58 in the First Schedule.
In section twenty-three, the words "or the distribution of revising barristers among the circuits," and from "and the senior judge" to "boroughs therein."
The Parliamentary Elections (Returning Officers) Act, 1875.
Sections two to five, and section seven, and the Schedules, except so far as those sections and schedules apply to elections other than parliamentary elections.
Section nine; in subsection (2) of section eleven the words from "or (b) Being entitled" to "to be made," and the words "In either of those cases"; sections thirty-two and thirty-three; subsection (3) of section forty-two; section forty-four; paragraphs (1) to (7) of section forty-five; sections forty-six to forty-nine; in subsection (2) of section fifty-one the words "or vote in more than one ward"; sections sixty-three, seventy-one, and seventy-six, subsections (1) and (3) of section two hundred and nine, section two hundred and forty-four, Part I. of the Third Schedule, in rule four of Part II. of the Third Schedule, the words "or entered in the separate non-resident list required by this Act to be made," Part IV. of the Third Schedule, rule one of Part II. of the Fifth Schedule so far as respects expenses incurred in relation to the enrolment of burgesses, and Forms C to G in Part II. of the Eighth Schedule.
The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, 1883.
Subsection (2) of section thirty-two; paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section thirty-three; subsection (1) of section thirty-five from "and may charge" to the end of the subsection; subsection (3) of section thirty-nine; section forty-seven; the definitions of "registration officer" in sections sixty-four and sixty-eight; subsection (12) of section sixty-eight; subsection (4) of section sixty-nine from "in the manner" to the end of the subsection; subsection (9) of section sixty-nine; paragraph (7) of Part I. of the First Schedule; paragraph (1) of Part II. of the First Schedule; in the "Form of Return of Election Expenses" in Part I. of the Second Schedule the first paragraph under the heading "Expenditure."
The whole act so far as unrepealed (except sections sixteen, nineteen, and twenty); the definitions of "ownership voter," "fifty pounds rental voter," and "occupation voter" in section nineteen.
Section three, except so far as it relates to the valuation roll, sections four and five, sections seven to ten, thirteen to fifteen, and section seventeen.
As respects England and Scotland the whole Act so far as unrepealed, and as respects Ireland, subsections (3) and (4) of section eight, sections ten to twelve, subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section thirteen, sections fourteen, fifteen, eighteen, and twenty, and in section twenty-six the words from "with the following" to the end of the section.
Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section two from "or is registered" to the end of the paragraph; paragraph (xii) of section three; subsection (6) of section thirty-four; proviso twelve in section seventy-five; sections seventy-six and seventy-seven; in paragraph (6), of section eighty-three the words "registration of parliamentary voters or to the," the words "or to any registration matters," and the word "registration" where it lastly occurs; in subsection (2) of section ninety-two the word "occupation" and the words "of making out and revising the lists of voters, of conducting any parliamentary election"; subsection (3) of section ninety-two.
The House Letting and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1911.
Section seven, proviso (3) from the words "Provided that for the purposes of any qualification or franchise" to end of that proviso; and section eight.
The size of the electorate tripled from the 7.7 million who had been entitled to vote in 1912 to 21.4 million by the end of 1918. Women now accounted for about 39.64% of the electorate. Had women been enfranchised based upon the same requirements as men, they would have been in the majority[25] because of the loss of men in the war.
The age of 30 was chosen because it was all that was politically possible at the time. Any attempt to make it lower would have failed.[26] as Lord Robert Cecil explained shortly after the act was passed:
That is the reason why the age limit of thirty was introduced, in order to avoid extending the franchise to a very large number of women, for fear they might be in a majority in the electorate of this country. It was for that reason only, and it had nothing to do with their qualifications at all. No one would seriously suggest that a woman of twenty-five is less capable of giving a vote than a woman of thirty-five.[27]
In addition to the suffrage changes, the act also instituted the present system of holding all voting in a general election on one day, as opposed to being staggered over a period of weeks (although the polling itself would only take place on a single day in each constituency),[24] and brought in the annual electoral register.[citation needed]
The first election held under the new system was the 1918 general election. Polling took place on 14 December 1918, but vote-counting did not start until 29 December 1918.[28]
As Members of Parliament, women also gained the right to become government ministers. The first woman cabinet minister and Privy Council member was the Labour Party's Margaret Bondfield, Minister of Labour from 1929 to 1931.[7]
Although the act extended the franchise significantly, it did not create a complete system of one person, one vote. Seven percent of the population enjoyed a plural vote in the 1918 election, mostly well off or middle-class men who had an extra vote due to a university constituency (this act increased the university vote by creating the Combined English Universities seats) or by occupying business premises in a constituency different from where they live.[d]
↑ For men, business premises with a ratable value in excess of £10 gave a right to vote in a constituency. Voting in multiple constituencies was not prohibited until the Representation of the People Act 1948 s. 1(2).
12Dawson, Michael (25 March 2010). "Money and the real impact of the Fourth Reform Act". The Historical Journal. 35 (2): 369–381. doi:10.1017/S0018246X0002584X. S2CID155070834.
↑Mill, John Stuart (2005), "The subjection of women", in Cudd, Ann E.; Andreasen, Robin O., Feminist theory: a philosophical anthology. Oxford, England, and Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 17–26, ISBN9781405116619.
Ball, Stuart, ‘The Reform Act of 1918: the advent of democracy’, Parliamentary History, vol. 37, no. 1 (2018), pp. 1-22.
Ball, Stuart (ed.), The Advent of Democracy: The Impact of the 1918 Reform Act on British Politics (Wiley, 2018), ISBN 978-1119511199
Blackburn, Robert, ‘Laying the foundations of the modern voting system: the Representation of the People Act 1918’, Parliamentary History, vol. 30, no. 1 (2011), pp. 33-52
Butler, David, The Electoral System in Britain 1918-1951 (Oxford University Press, 1953)
Pugh, Martin, ‘Politicians and the woman’s vote 1914-1918’, History, vol. 59, no. 197 (1974), pp. 358-374
Fair, John D., ‘The political aspects of women’s suffrage during the First World War’, Albion, vol. 8, no. 3 (1976), pp. 274-295
Pugh, Martin, Electoral Reform in War and Peace 1906-1918 (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978)
Rolf, David, ‘The origins of Mr. Speaker’s conference during the First World War’, History, vol. 64, no. 210 (1979), pp. 36-46
Tanner, Duncan, ‘The Parliamentary electoral system, the Fourth Reform Act, and the rise of Labour in England’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, vol. 56 (1983), 205-219
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Hansard HC Debs (22 May 1917) vol 93, C 2135 Accessed 17 February 2017.(subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)