A faggot voter or faggot was a person who qualified to vote in an election with a restricted suffrage only by the exploitation of loopholes in the regulations. Typically, faggot voters satisfied a property qualification by holding the title to a subdivision of a large property with a single beneficial owner. Faggot voting was a common electoral abuse in the United Kingdom until the electoral reforms of the late 19th century.
The word faggot originally meant a piece or bundle of gathered firewood. It was later applied to civilians added to a military muster roll purely to make up the numbers rather than to serve as soldiers. The extension from muster rolls to electoral rolls is attested from 1817. [1]
In the Unreformed House of Commons, and for decades after the Reform Act 1832, voting in a geographical constituency was restricted to those with an "interest" (i.e. property) in the constituency, generally in the form of real estate. If a landowner subdivided a single property into multiple units, and transferred the title of each unit into the name of a separate person, each titleholder could then register to vote. [2] These "faggot voters" were expected to vote according to the wishes of the original landowner; the lack of secret ballot ensured they complied with the landowner's wishes. Prohibition of vote buying was difficult to enforce if the faggot was an employee of the landowner. There was no requirement for a voter to be resident; the landowner and faggot voter might both reside outside the constituency. [2]
Although the original forty shilling freehold suffrage of 1432 applied to freehold rather than leasehold, it had been widened gradually over the centuries, increasing the number of loopholes by which faggot voters might register. [2] Edward Porritt found the earliest instances of faggot voting in the 1620s under Charles I. [2] The Parliamentary Elections Act 1695 (7 & 8 Will. 3. c. 25) prohibited subdivision of tenements for this purpose. [1] In the 18th century, a freehold would be conveyed to the faggot just before the election, and back again straight after the vote. [3]
The sheriffs of the City of London are elected by the liverymen of the livery companies. Richard Causton, himself an MP and liveryman, said in the debate on the Local Government Act 1888 that "anyone who wanted a vote could go down to the City with £12 in his pocket, and get the right to vote ... There were liverymen who had no connection with the City beyond the fact that they were faggot voters". His amendment to restrict the vote to "men who had business in the City of London" was defeated. [4]
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Subdivision of property other than to bona fide titleholders was prohibited for the franchise in borough constituencies by the Representation of the People Act 1867 and in county constituencies by the Representation of the People Act 1884. However, previously enrolled faggot voters retained their vote until death. This was rendered irrelevant by the Representation of the People Act 1918, which introduced manhood suffrage.
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. It reapportioned constituencies to address the unequal distribution of seats and expanded franchise by broadening and standardising the property qualifications to vote.
The Reform Acts are legislation enacted in the United Kingdom in the 19th and 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. When short titles were introduced for these acts, they were usually Representation of the People Act.
In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884, also known informally as the Third Reform Act, and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which further extended the suffrage in the UK after the Derby government's Reform Act 1867. Taken together, these measures extended the same voting qualifications as existed in the towns to the countryside, more than doubling the electorate in the counties, and essentially established the modern one member constituency as the normal pattern for parliamentary representation.
The "unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Reform Act 1832.
Forty-shilling freeholders were those who had the parliamentary franchise to vote by virtue of possessing freehold property, or lands held directly of the king, of an annual rent of at least forty shillings, clear of all charges.
Bedfordshire was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 until 1707, then the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1801 and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1885 when it was divided into two constituencies under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
Berkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England until 1707, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. The county returned two knights of the shire until 1832 and three between 1832 and 1885.
The total registered electorate in the United Kingdom grew from 5.7 million in 1885 to over 21 million in 1918. Much of the growth was result of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which expanded franchise by abolishing property qualifications for men and introduced female suffrage for some women over the age of 30.
Newton was a parliamentary borough in the county of Lancashire, in England. It was represented by two Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1559 to 1706 then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until its abolition in 1832.
The Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, commonly called the Irish Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Ireland. The act was passed at approximately the same time as the Reform Act 1832, which applied to England and Wales.
Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), traditionally known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England, Great Britain and House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.
Ilchester was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832. It was one of the most notoriously corrupt rotten boroughs.
Bossiney was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, one of a number of Cornish rotten boroughs. It returned two members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1552 until 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
Durham or County Durham was a county constituency in northern England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1675 until 1832.
Steyning was a parliamentary borough in Sussex, England, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons sporadically from 1298 and continuously from 1467 until 1832. It was a notorious rotten borough, and was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
Okehampton was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons in 1301 and 1313, then continuously from 1640 to 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
Whitchurch was a parliamentary borough in the English County of Hampshire, which elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Unreformed House of Commons from 1586 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.
Lincolnshire was a county constituency of the Parliaments of England before 1707 and Great Britain before 1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which returned two Members of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons from 1290 until 1832.
Staffordshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832.
The Newtown Act was an act of the Parliament of Ireland regulating municipal corporations, in particular the manner in which parliamentary boroughs elected members to the Irish House of Commons.
