The Reform Act of 1832
The Reform Act of 1832, which increased the franchise, did not satisfy the working-classes
because it still excluded the vast majority of them from participation in both national and local
government. It was beneficial to the middle-classes, i.e. factory owners. In order to qualify for
voting a man needed to earn at least £150 a year. An ordinary worker earned under £50.
In 1836 William Lovett and others founded the Working Men's Association which drew up a
Charter containing six political demands:
•
annual elections to Parliament;
•
manhood suffrage;
•
payment of members of Parliament;
•
secret ballots;
•
equal electoral districts;
•
abolition of the property qualification for membership of the House of Commons.
The Chartists appealed to workers to found their own organisations and to agitate for the Charter
by presenting petitions to Parliament (1839, 1842, 1848).
However, by 1848 the Chartist movement had lost its momentum. Some leaders turned towards
revolutionary socialism. They attempted to create a mass organisation with a distinct workingclass ideology. Others were attracted by the ideas of the Christian socialists led by Charles
Kingsley and Frederick Maurice, or by the positivism propagated by a small group of intellectuals
from London University. Although the Chartists did not achieve a direct political victory, they
were successful in encouraging workers to organise themselves and to struggle for economic and
political reforms. In 1867, a Conservative government gave voting rights to a large number of
urban working men. From that time the working classes steadily advanced to politic power.
In 1844 twenty-eight Lancashire weavers each invested £1 in setting up a grocery store in Toad
Lane, Rochdale. This was the beginning of the Cooperative Movement. Goods were sold at
normal prices but profit (dividend) was shared among the customers in proportion to the amount
of goods they had bought. Dividends could also be left in the business to accumulate. This
encouraged members to build up savings.
Working-class activism in the 19th and the early 20th centuries was closely connected with the
Trade Union movement, radicalism, and the lay activity of some churches. The London Trades
Council established in 1860 soon became an important and influential body. In 1868 the Labour
Representation League was formed. Its primary aim was to help elect working-men
representatives to parliament. In 1871 a Trade Union Act was passed by Parliament giving the
trade unions the status of legal social institutions. Although the number of labour representatives
in Parliament grew steadily, they were still insignificant in a House which consisted of 600
members in 1906.
The political activism of the Labour militants in the years 1875-1914 was significantly inspired by
socialist ideas. Karl Marx and other revolutionaries did not exert a direct influence on the Labour
movement in Britain but their articles were translated into English and discussed. William Morris
(1834-1896) promoted a non-revolutionary transformation to socialism. He gathered around
himself a small group called the Hammersmith Socialist Society. Another organisation which was
not inspired by Marx but had socialist aims and made a considerable agitation among the
working-classes was the Fabian Society. One of its major achievements was the Minority Report
of the Poor Law Commission of 1905-1909. The Fabian Society was a political organisation
founded in London in 1884 for the advancement of socialism by democratic means. Among its
members were the writer George Bernard Shaw, the economists and historians Sidney and
Beatrice Webb. All these organisations and movements contributed in different degrees to the
formation of the Labour Party in 1900.
because it still excluded the vast majority of them from participation in both national and local
government. It was beneficial to the middle-classes, i.e. factory owners. In order to qualify for
voting a man needed to earn at least £150 a year. An ordinary worker earned under £50.
In 1836 William Lovett and others founded the Working Men's Association which drew up a
Charter containing six political demands:
•
annual elections to Parliament;
•
manhood suffrage;
•
payment of members of Parliament;
•
secret ballots;
•
equal electoral districts;
•
abolition of the property qualification for membership of the House of Commons.
The Chartists appealed to workers to found their own organisations and to agitate for the Charter
by presenting petitions to Parliament (1839, 1842, 1848).
However, by 1848 the Chartist movement had lost its momentum. Some leaders turned towards
revolutionary socialism. They attempted to create a mass organisation with a distinct workingclass ideology. Others were attracted by the ideas of the Christian socialists led by Charles
Kingsley and Frederick Maurice, or by the positivism propagated by a small group of intellectuals
from London University. Although the Chartists did not achieve a direct political victory, they
were successful in encouraging workers to organise themselves and to struggle for economic and
political reforms. In 1867, a Conservative government gave voting rights to a large number of
urban working men. From that time the working classes steadily advanced to politic power.
In 1844 twenty-eight Lancashire weavers each invested £1 in setting up a grocery store in Toad
Lane, Rochdale. This was the beginning of the Cooperative Movement. Goods were sold at
normal prices but profit (dividend) was shared among the customers in proportion to the amount
of goods they had bought. Dividends could also be left in the business to accumulate. This
encouraged members to build up savings.
Working-class activism in the 19th and the early 20th centuries was closely connected with the
Trade Union movement, radicalism, and the lay activity of some churches. The London Trades
Council established in 1860 soon became an important and influential body. In 1868 the Labour
Representation League was formed. Its primary aim was to help elect working-men
representatives to parliament. In 1871 a Trade Union Act was passed by Parliament giving the
trade unions the status of legal social institutions. Although the number of labour representatives
in Parliament grew steadily, they were still insignificant in a House which consisted of 600
members in 1906.
The political activism of the Labour militants in the years 1875-1914 was significantly inspired by
socialist ideas. Karl Marx and other revolutionaries did not exert a direct influence on the Labour
movement in Britain but their articles were translated into English and discussed. William Morris
(1834-1896) promoted a non-revolutionary transformation to socialism. He gathered around
himself a small group called the Hammersmith Socialist Society. Another organisation which was
not inspired by Marx but had socialist aims and made a considerable agitation among the
working-classes was the Fabian Society. One of its major achievements was the Minority Report
of the Poor Law Commission of 1905-1909. The Fabian Society was a political organisation
founded in London in 1884 for the advancement of socialism by democratic means. Among its
members were the writer George Bernard Shaw, the economists and historians Sidney and
Beatrice Webb. All these organisations and movements contributed in different degrees to the
formation of the Labour Party in 1900.