The end
of the second decade of the nineteenth century saw two General Elections two
years apart and history has repeated itself in the same period in the
twenty-first century. The current election laws are very different to those in the
nineteenth century but the problems the politicians faced were not dissimilar.
The
Tories had been in power for six years when the first election after the end of
Napoleonic wars took place in 1818. The end of the wars had bought peace, but
there was no work for the returning soldiers and the Corn Law restricted
imports of wheat and pushed up the price of bread. Poverty and deprivation was
causing social unrest, which the Government quashed with draconian legislation.
Up to this time the members of parliament were traditionally the major
landowners in the constituency area and were usually returned unopposed, but at
this election more seats were being contested. People realised they had the
power to change things. They did not have to suffer austerity in silence. This
was the first time the public (or the small percentage of the population that
were eligible to vote) realised they could make a difference. Candidates
suddenly found they had to fight for their seats. They did so by inviting
voters to election meetings where there was always plenty of food and drink on
offer. They would arrange to convey voters to the polls, and they would use all
the influence they could muster to entice people to vote for them. It was not a
secret vote and afterwards the electoral list and how individuals voted was
published. Therefore tenants of the candidate dare not vote against their
landlord for fear of losing their farms or their patronage. Supporters were
supplied with ribbons, banners and street decoration. Bands accompanied the
candidates to their meetings. The candidates found that fighting for their
parliamentary seats was becoming expensive.
Middlesex
In today’s
2019 election Boris Johnson is hoping to retain his Middlesex constituency seat
of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. This is just one of 32 constituencies in
Middlesex. In 1818 there were 14 constituencies in Middlesex which stretched
across the whole of the north bank of the Thames from the City of London to the
Buckingham/Berkshire/Hertfordshire borders. Middlesex had twelve borough
constituencies and two county members of Parliament who represented the rest of
Middlesex.
In 1818 George Byng, a member of the Whig (Liberal)
party, who after 28 years in the House of Commons once again accepted the
nomination of the freeholders to stand as a representative for Middlesex.[1] It was a
popular nomination and he had many cheering supporters when the nomination was
made. His fellow candidate, William Mellish, a Tory and a governor of the Bank
of England, was less enthusiastically nominated. In fact another candidate was
considered to replace Mr Mellish. The formal proceedings took place on Friday
26 June 1818 and the freeholders of the county crowded into Brentford,
Middlesex, to cast their vote. The road from London to Brentford was thronged
with the carriages of the candidates’ supporters. The two seats in Parliament
for Middlesex were uncontested, but freeholders wanted to show support for
their preferred man, and the candidates put on a show. Mellish left London at
9am in a travelling coach with postillions in scarlet livery. His supporters
wore light blue ribbons. Mr Byng’s supporters wore orange and purple ribbons.
When both the candidates were present the two sheriffs went through the
procedure of the hustings. The King’s Writ requiring two representatives to be
elected for Middlesex was read and Mr Byng formerly proposed and seconded. Then
Mr Mellish was proposed and seconded. The sheriffs asked if there were any
other candidates and Mr Clarke, who had been proposed at an earlier meeting
withdrew his candidacy. Both candidates were therefore declared duly elected
and were chaired through the streets of Brentford as was the tradition.
1820 election
1820 election
The 1820
general election took place between the 6 March and
the 14 April 1820 and more seats were being contested. Discontent was growing nationally. A
plot to kill leading cabinet members and the Prime Minister was uncovered in
February, and the plotters executed. In Scotland a general strike and a movement
for more autonomy and independence was growing, but was suppressed when the
army were sent to arrest the ringleaders some of whom were later hung and
others transported to the colonies. In the 1820 Middlesex election another Whig
candidate entered the contest. All three candidates had to work harder at
wooing the 10,662 members of the electorate. There were accusations of a
coalition between the two Whig candidates which they refuted. However they were
both elected and the Tory candidate eliminated.
From
this time onwards the populace became aware of the unfairness of the electoral
system. Pressure was on MPs to change the system which resulted in the Reform Act of 1832.
This Act abolished ‘rotten boroughs’ where a MP was elected for a non-existent
borough, and doubled the number of men eligible to vote, although this was
still only 18% of the male population of the United Kingdom.
At
today’s election there will be more representation, and most of the adult
population are eligible to vote. A vote is a privilege that many of fought hard
for over the centuries. Let us hope that everyone will make use of this
privilege.
