ABSTRACT
The Representation of the People Act, 1884, and the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, came to be known together as the Third Reform Act. These two Liberal measures, plus the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act of 1883; and the 1885 Registration Act, amounted to the largest single instalment of parliamentary reform undertaken during the nineteenth century; and the electoral system which they created remained in operation until 1918. 1 Most commentators and politicians assumed that 'democracy' had now arrived. In his preface to The Radical Programme (1885) Joseph Chamberlain welcomed 'government of the people by the people'. 'At last the majority of the nation will be represented by a majority of the House of Commons.' Yet this democracy stopped well short of 'one man one vote'; and no women at all were allowed the suffrage in parliamentary elections.
