Rule by property-owners

In the eighteenth century, Britain was ruled by its great landowners. Most of them were nobles - members of the House of Lords. The leaders of the gentry (smaller landowners) sat in the House of Commons. They were less important than the lords, and often followed their lead.

The members of the House of Commons (M.P.s) were elected, but not by all the people. On the whole, only better-off men had the right to vote. (All the men could vote in a few towns.) No women could vote. And voting was in public. So landlords often told their tenants who to vote for. Men who could not be forced to vote the right way would be bribed.

Each county and borough in England had two M.P.s. Boroughs were supposed to be the most important towns. But some of them were "rotten boroughs" - villages with only a few voters. These voters obeyed their landlords. So it was the landlords who chose the M.P.s. On the other hand, some large towns, such as Birmingham, did not have their own M.P.s.

The radicals wanted to get rid of rotten boroughs, and to give all men the vote. But the lords and gentry said that only men who owned property should be able to vote. And the lords and gentry were in control. During the wars with France (1793 to 1815) they said that the radicals were no better than the French Jacobins.

Walter Robson: Britain 1750 - 1900; Oxford University Press, 1993, page 39 f.