Reforming Parliament

In this series of videos, produced by Royal Holloway, University of London, staff and students examine the campaign and steps taken in the nineteenth century to reform Parliament. This playlist starts by asking what was wrong with Parliament before the Great Reform Act, before going on to look at the Reform Crisis of 1830-32, the passage of the Great Reform Act and its significance. The playlist also contains videos looking at the Second and Third Reform Acts and the Ballot Act, actor readings of key speeches to help students understand the debates that surrounded these measures, and primers on the key politicians involved. Many of these videos have been co-produced with the Parliamentary Archives and the History of Parliament Trust. Note: click the icon in the top right corner to see the complete playlist:

See more videos in the History Hub series:

• Anglo-Saxons and Normans
• King John and Magna Carta
• Henry III, Simon de Montfort and the origins of parliament
• The Peasants' Great Revolt
• Tudor Rebellions  
• The English Civil War
• Britain in the Age of Revolutions
• Radical protest in the 19th century
• Peterloo
• The abolition of slavery
• Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League
• Reforming parliament
• 19th-century social reform
• Workers' rights and trade unions
• Votes for women