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Lord John Russell and Parliamentary Reform, 1848–67
University College, Oxford
Between 1848 and 1867, the reform of parliament was one of the key subjects of political debate in Britain. The central figure in this debate was Lord John Russell, but his approach to reform has been little understood. This article uses Russell's extensive writings and speeches on reform, accumulated over a period of fifty years, to reappraise his objectives as a reformer, and his reasons for returning to the subject twelve years after the ‘finality’ declaration of 1837. It argues that this was not, as commonly portrayed, a bid for radical votes in parliament – his bills gave the radicals little that they wanted, while he staunchly opposed their own proposals. Rather they reflected an ideal of the constitution entirely at odds with radical ambitions, a model to which he adhered consistently throughout his career. The correct balance of forces had, he believed, largely been achieved in 1832: reform thereafter was intended to enlarge the numbers attached to the constitution, while disturbing this balance as little as possible. The remainder of the article examines how his ideas were expressed in the bills of 1852, 1854, 1860 and 1866, and his response to the Act passed by the Conservatives in 1867.