ABSTRACT
The period between 1830 and 1832 was one of political and constitutional change. In the first place, the long period of Tory rule ended in the autumn of 1830 when Earl Grey replaced the Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister. His main commitment was now to secure the reform of the electoral system for the House of Commons. A Reform Bill, introduced by Lord John Russell in March 1831, passed the second reading in the Commons, but was defeated in committee. Grey obtained a dissolution from William IV and, in the general election of April 1831, secured an increased majority for the Whigs; this was widely seen as a mandate to press the issue to its conclusion. A second Bill passed all stages in the Commons in September, only to be rejected in the Lords. A third Bill fared little better, being substantially amended by the Lords in committee. Grey’s request for the creation of fifty new Whig peers was at first refused by William IV, until the King found it impossible to appoint an alternative government. When he finally agreed to comply, the Lords gave way and in June 1832 passed the Bill in the third reading.
