Wakefield Museums and Castles

There were lots of big developments in politics and elections in the 1900s. The changes began in 1832 with the Great Reform Act.  

This new law increased the number of men who could vote. It was still only a small number of men. Women were not allowed to vote at all.

The law also changed the constituencies that elected Members of Parliament. Many places that had been important in the Middle Ages still had two MPs, even though their population had shrunk. These were often known as 'rotten boroughs'. Meanwhile many big new towns in the north of England did not have an MP at all.

The Great Reform Act took MPs from the old places that had declined. It also created new constituencies. This meant towns like Wakefield could elect an MP for the first time. The Liberal Daniel Gaskell won the first election in Wakefield.

Thousands of people celebrated the passing of the Reform Act at a meeting in Wakefield. This banner was found in Horbury.

The three men on it were members of the government that passed the Act. The man in the middle with the wig is the Lord Chancellor Lord Brougham. On the right is the Prime Minister Earl Grey. As members of the House of Lords, they could not be MPs. So, the third man on the left, John Russell MP led the reform in the House of Commons.