The Reform Acts were 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.
In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 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.
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
The Representation of the People Act 1949 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act consolidated previous electoral law, but also made some changes to administration. Representation of the People amendments followed in 1969, 1977, 1978, and 1980, all being repealed through consolidation into the Representation of the People Act 1983.
Representation of the People Act is a stock short title used in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Pakistan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and Vanuatu for legislation dealing with the electoral system. Representation of the People Acts is a collective title for legislation relating to representation of the people, including Rating Acts and other Registration Acts. The title was first used in the United Kingdom in the 1832 Great Reform Act and was adopted in other countries of, or formerly part of, the British Empire thorugh the spread of the Westminster parliamentary system.
Dunbartonshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, a concept in the broader global context termed equal apportionment, in an attempt to equalise representation across the UK. It was associated with, but not part of, the Representation of the People Act 1884.
The Parliamentary Boundaries (Ireland) Act 1832 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the boundaries of the 33 parliamentary boroughs which were represented in the United Kingdom House of Commons. They had originally been named in the Acts of Union 1800. Section 12 of the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, enacted on the same day, specified that the boundaries were to be defined in this separate Act.
Hackney North was a parliamentary constituency in "The Metropolis". It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Westminster St George's, originally named St George's, Hanover Square, was a parliamentary constituency in Central London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system of election.
Hackney South was a parliamentary constituency in "The Metropolis". It was represented by nine Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, only two of whom, Horatio Bottomley and Herbert Morrison, were elected more than once.
Hampstead was a borough constituency, centered on the Hampstead area of North London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, who was elected using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Brixton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Brixton district of South London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post system.
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.
Electors must be on the electoral register in order to vote in elections and referendums in the UK. Electoral registration officers within local authorities have a duty to compile and maintain accurate electoral registers.
The ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, which includes the unitary authority of Milton Keynes, currently returns seven MPs to the UK Parliament.
The ceremonial county of Hertfordshire has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.
The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.
The county of Northumberland has returned four MPs to the UK Parliament since 1983. Under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, the boundaries of the historic/administrative county were significantly altered with the south-east of the county, comprising more than half the electorate, being transferred to the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. These changes were reflected in the following redistribution of parliamentary seats which did not come into effect until the 1983 general election, resulting in a reduction in the county's representation from 10 to 4 MPs.
