ABSTRACT
The 188os saw the beginnings of change. In some measure this was the result of the activities of Joseph Chamberlain. He was not always an arch imperialist and in his earlier days as a radical he made his mark on the Poor Law with two important changes, one legislative and the other administrative. The first of these was the passing of the Medical Relief (Disqualifications Removal) Act of 1885,1 which was later described as the 'first nail in the coffin of the Poor Law' though all it did was to state that no-one should lose his vote if he had received Poor Law relief for medical purposes only. The Reform Bill of 1884 had, as strict less eligibility required, disfranchised all who were technically paupers; the new act qualified this and allowed the medical pauper to vote. The story of the passing of this act is odd. In its final form it was a Government Bill, and a Conservative one at that, though Chamberlain was still a Liberal and had started the movement which led to it. A few members of Parliament sincerely believed in it and a few sincerely opposed it, but for the bulk of MPs it was a story of political insincerity and chicanery.
