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Reform Act
 
 
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In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Reform Act is a generic term used for legislation concerning electoral matters. It is most commonly used for laws passed to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the British House of Commons
British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
. The periodic redrawing of constituency boundaries is now dealt with by a permanent Boundary Commission in each part of the United Kingdom, rather than by a Reform Act.

Some people in Britain, mostly associated with the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Lib Dem, are a Liberalism political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party ; the two parties had been SDP-Liberal Alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of the SDP....
, have called for a new "Great Reform Act" to introduce electoral changes they favour.






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In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Reform Act is a generic term used for legislation concerning electoral matters. It is most commonly used for laws passed to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the British House of Commons
British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
. The periodic redrawing of constituency boundaries is now dealt with by a permanent Boundary Commission in each part of the United Kingdom, rather than by a Reform Act.

Some people in Britain, mostly associated with the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Lib Dem, are a Liberalism political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by merging the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party ; the two parties had been SDP-Liberal Alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of the SDP....
, have called for a new "Great Reform Act" to introduce electoral changes they favour. These would include lowering the minimum voting age to 16 and introducing proportional representation
Proportional representation

Proportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of voting systems aimed at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive ....
.

Reform Act may refer to:
  • Reform Act 1832
    Reform Act 1832

    The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
    , which gave representation to previously underrepresented urban areas and extended the qualifications for voting
  • Reform Act 1867
    Reform Act 1867

    The Reform Act 1867 , 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102, was a piece of List of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom that enfranchised the urban working class in England and Wales....
    , which widened the franchise and adjusted representation to be more equitable
  • Ballot Act 1872
    Ballot Act 1872

    In 1872, William Ewart Gladstone introduced the Ballot Act, which required that Elections in the United Kingdom to Parliament of the United Kingdom and local government election use the secret ballot....
     (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1872"), which introduced the secret ballot
  • Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883
    Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883

    The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
     (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1883"), which introduced campaign spending limits
  • Reform Act 1884, which allowed people in counties to vote on the same basis as those in towns. Home ownership was the only qualification
  • Reform Act 1885, which split most multi-member constituencies into multiple single-member ones
  • Reform Act 1918, which abolished property qualifications for men and introduced limited female suffrage
  • Reform Act 1928, which widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men