Parliament of Great Britain

Parliament of Great Britain

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland. The Acts created a new unified Kingdom of Great Britain and dissolved the separate English and Scottish parliaments in favour of a single parliament, located in the former home of the English parliament in the Palace of Westminster, London.

It was only after the Hanoverian George I ascended the Throne in 1714 that power began to shift from the Sovereign. George was a German ruler, spoke poor English and preferred to concentrate on his dominions in Europe. He thus entrusted power to a group of his ministers, the foremost of which was Sir Robert Walpole. George III sought to restore royal supremacy, but by the end of his reign, the position of the ministers—who would in turn have to rely on Parliament for support—was cemented.

Towards the end of the 18th century the monarch still had considerable influence over Parliament which itself was dominated by the English aristocracy and by patronage. Candidates for the House of Commons stood as Whigs or Tories, but once elected formed shifting coalitions of interests rather than splitting along party lines. At general elections the vote was restricted to property owners, in constituencies which were out of date and did not reflect the growing importance of manufacturing towns or shifts of population, so that in rotten boroughs seats could be bought or were controlled by rich landowners, while major cities remained unrepresented. Reformers like William Beckford and Radicals beginning with John Wilkes called for reform of the system. In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox and Thomas Brand Hollis, and put forward by a sub-committee of the electors of Westminster. This included calls for the six points later adopted by the Chartists.

The American Revolutionary War ended in humiliating defeat of a policy which King George III had fervently advocated, and in March 1782 the King was forced to appoint an administration led by his opponents which sought to curb Royal patronage. In November 1783 he took his opportunity and used his influence in the House of Lords to defeat a Bill to reform the British East India Company, dismissed the government then appointed William Pitt the Younger as his Prime Minister. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, but he did not press for long for reforms the King did not like. Proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the "rotten boroughs" to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174.

In the wake of the French Revolution of 1789, Radical organisations such as the London Corresponding Society sprang up to press for reform, but as the Napoleonic Wars developed the government took extensive stern measures against feared domestic unrest and progress toward reform was stalled.

Parliament of the United Kingdom

In 1801 the Parliament of the United Kingdom was created when the Kingdom of Great Britain was merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Act of Union 1800.

ee also

*List of Parliaments of Great Britain
*List of Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament, 1707-1799
*1st Parliament of Great Britain
*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 1st Parliament of Great Britain — The first Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707, after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. No fresh elections were held in England, and the existing members of the English House of… …   Wikipedia

  • Scottish representatives to the 1st Parliament of Great Britain — Scottish representatives to the House of Commons of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain were not elected but co opted in 1707 from the Commissioners of the last Parliament of Scotland.Legal background to the composition of the 1st ParliamentUnder …   Wikipedia

  • 2nd Parliament of Great Britain — The 2nd Parliament of Great Britain was the first to actually be elected, as the 1st Parliament of Great Britain was drawn from the former Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland.The Parliament was summoned on 26 April 1708. The members… …   Wikipedia

  • Muslim Parliament of Great Britain — The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain is a Muslim organization founded in 1992 in London by Dr Kalim Siddiqui, Director of the Muslim Institute, based on a proposal published in July 1990 under the title The Muslim Manifesto. The Muslim… …   Wikipedia

  • List of members of the 1st Parliament of Great Britain — This is a list of members of the First Parliament of Great Britain. No election was held for the 1st Parliament of Great Britain, its members being appointed from the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland.MPs from Scotland and… …   Wikipedia

  • Kingdom of Great Britain — Infobox Former Country native name = conventional long name = Kingdom of Great Britain common name = United Kingdom continent=Europe region=British Isles country=United Kingdom status=State union era = 18th century year start = 1707 year end =… …   Wikipedia

  • 1708 in Great Britain — Events from the year 1708 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.Incumbents*Monarch Anne of Great BritainEvents* 13 February Robert Harley is dismissed from his position as Secretary of State for the Northern Department and Robert Walpole becomes… …   Wikipedia

  • 1707 in Great Britain — Events from the year 1707 in the Kingdom of Great Britain, created in this year by the Acts of Union 1707.Incumbents*Monarch Anne of Great BritainEvents* 16 January The Treaty (or Act) of Union between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of… …   Wikipedia

  • Great Britain — This article is about the island. For the modern state, see United Kingdom. For the state that existed from 1707 to 1801, see Kingdom of Great Britain. For the ship, see SS Great Britain. For other uses, see Great Britain (disambiguation). Great… …   Wikipedia

  • Great Britain — noun 1. a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; Great Britain is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑United Kingdom,… …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”