Tag: 1883 corrupt and illegal practices prevention act

19th Century history, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, Speakers of the House, Victorian, Victorian Commons

Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons for 2026!

Here’s wishing all our readers a very enjoyable New Year! 2025 was a particularly memorable year for our 1832-68 House of Commons project and the History of Parliament. After 20 years based at Bloomsbury Square in the so-called ‘knowledge quarter’ around the British Museum, we sorted and packed decades of research materials and relocated to a new open-plan office at 14-18 Old Street in Islington. The volume … Continue reading Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons for 2026!

Philip SalmonLeave a comment
A colourful election poster produced by the Tariff Reform League. A farmer sits on a railway platform with crates and baskets of produce, watching a train called the Foreign Produce Express loaded with foreign produce, steaming past. He laments the need for tariff reform.
Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Corruption, Elections, Legislative History, William Ewart Gladstone

A ‘revolution’ in electioneering? The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act

Concluding her series on the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act, Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at the long-term consequences of this major reform. In the wake of the corruption and expense of the 1880 general election, Sir Henry James, attorney general in Gladstone’s Liberal government, oversaw a landmark piece of legislation which aimed to clean up Britain’s elections: the 1883 … Continue reading A ‘revolution’ in electioneering? The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act

Kathryn RixLeave a comment
Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, Constituencies, Elections, Electoral Reform, Local History, Victorian

The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act: the York by-election

Continuing her series on the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act, Dr Kathryn Rix looks at its impact on electioneering, focusing on the November 1883 York by-election, which was the first parliamentary election held in England under the Act’s terms. The 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act, a landmark reform aimed at tackling the corruption and expense of elections, received royal assent on 25 August 1883, … Continue reading The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act: the York by-election

Kathryn RixLeave a comment