... It has been estimated that only around one adult male in ten was entitled to the vote. Qualifications to vote and be a member of the House of Commons were based on property. The right to vote was restricted in counties to anyone owning land worth 40sh (£2) a year or more and in the boroughs a wide range of franchises existed. Only a third of these elections were contested also. The parliamentary system was also accused of being anachronistic by many such as Lord Palmerston who described the government as unfitting 'for the intelligence and feelings of the times in which we lived'. Many events and arguments led to the development of the 1832 Reform Act, yet individual rights effected extremely few. Economic depression was causing tension in Britain and throughout 1830-31 the Captain Swing riots by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England added to tension, even ...

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