Parliament of Great Britain

Coordinates: 51°29′57″N 00°07′29″W / 51.49917°N 0.12472°W / 51.49917; -0.12472
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the historical parliament in existence from 1707 to 1800. For its present-day successor, see Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain
First-past-the-post with limited suffrage
Meeting place
Palace of Westminster, London
Footnotes
See also:
Parliament of Ireland

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdom of Great Britain and created the parliament of Great Britain located in the former home of the English parliament in the Palace of Westminster, near the City of London. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801.

History

Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain.[1][2] The Acts paved the way for the enactment of the treaty of Union which created a new parliament, referred to as the 'Parliament of Great Britain', based in the home of the former English parliament. All of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, although there is no provision for this within the treaty; furthermore, the incumbent officers and members representing England comprised the overwhelming majority of the new body. It was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament, with the exception of that pertaining to private right which could only legislated on for the "evident utility" of the people.[3] England's de facto prominence in the new parliament was, and remains, a contentious issue.[citation needed]

After the

Radicals sought parliamentary reform, but as the French Revolutionary Wars
developed the British government became repressive against dissent and progress towards reform was stalled.

John Rocque's Map of London, Westminster, and Southwark, 1746

George II's successor,

George III
, sought to restore royal supremacy and absolute monarchy, but by the end of his reign the position of the king's ministers – who discovered that they needed the support of Parliament to enact any major changes – had become central to the role of British governance, and would remain so ever after.

During the first half of George III's reign, the monarch still had considerable influence over Parliament, which itself was dominated by the patronage and influence of the English nobility. Most candidates for the House of Commons were identified as

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

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 of 1783, he took the opportunity to use his influence in the House of Lords to defeat a bill to reform the Honourable East India Company, dismissed the government of the day, and appointed William Pitt the Younger
to form a new government. 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

Radical organisations such as the London Corresponding Society sprang up to press for parliamentary reform, but as the French Revolutionary Wars
developed the government took extensive repressive measures against feared domestic unrest aping the democratic and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution and progress toward reform was stalled for decades.

Parliament of the United Kingdom

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

Membership by constituent country

Key to categories in the following tables: BC –
University constituencies
, Total C – Total constituencies, BMP – Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP – County Members of Parliament, UMP – University Members of Parliament.

Monmouthshire (One County constituency with two members and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.

Table 1: Constituencies and Members, by type and country[5]

Country BC CC UC Total C BMP CMP UMP Total Members Population (1700) People per MP
 England 202 39 2 243 404 78 4 486 5.1 million[6] ~10,500
 Wales 13 13 0 26 13 14 0 27 400,000[6] ~21,000
 Scotland 15 30 0 45 15 30 0 45 1 million[7] ~22,000
 Total 230 82 2 314 432 122 4 558 6.5 million ~12,000

Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

Country BC×1 BC×2 BC×4 CC×1 CC×2 UC×2 Total C
 England 4 196 2 0 39 2 243
 Wales 13 0 0 12 1 0 26
 Scotland 15 0 0 30 0 0 45
 Total 32 196 2 42 40 2 314

See also

Painting of c. 1708–14 of Queen Anne addressing the House of Lords.
The political raree-show: or a picture of parties and politics, during and at the close of the last session of Parliament, June 1779 (1779 etching)

References

  1. ^ "Uniting the kingdom?". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Making the Act of Union 1707" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  3. ^ Act of Union 1707, Article 1
  4. ISBN 0-521-83331-0
    .
  5. ^ British Historical Facts 1760–1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).
  6. ^ a b Marshall, John (25 August 1838). "A Geographical and Statistical Display ... of Each Country ... of the British Empire ...: With a Like Display ... of the Several Provinces and Districts of Russia, Prussia, France, the Netherlands, Germany" – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "History of the Union - Part two: 1707 - 1783". www.telegraph.co.uk. 11 December 2007.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parliament of Great Britain.


Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Parliament of England
c. 1215–1707
Parliament of Scotland
c. 1235–1707
 Parliament of Great Britain
1707–1800 		Succeeded by

51°29′57″N 00°07′29″W / 51.49917°N 0.12472°W / 51.49917; -0.12472

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