Radicals (UK)

The Radicals were a group of parliamentarians in the UK in the early to mid- 19th century, which were involved in the conversion of the Whigs into the Liberal Party.

Background

The most important factors, which grew the radical movement were: the support for electoral reforms, the emancipation of Catholics and free trade efforts. In the working class and the middle class, it was the " popular radicals " who fought for social reforms and rights, whereas the medium-sized concerns " philosophical radicals " electoral reform was.

Radical MPs

The Reform Act of 1832 gave the Whigs while the middle class the right to vote, but did not meet the demands of the radicals by universal suffrage for men. A small group of radicals in the House of the aristocratic Whigs joined in the demand for suffrage for the working class. Increasingly found this even with the Whigs from the middle class approval. In the population, the Chartists took over the demand for expanded suffrage. From about 1839, the community of interest of radical and Whig parliamentarians was called Liberal Party.

Founded in 1839 midsize Anti-Corn Law League ( Anti-Corn Law League - the Corn Laws were protectionist import tariffs for cereals) opposed the punitive tariffs that drove the price of grain up and thus the landowners brought profit, but Industrial loaded. She reached the " feudalism " and tried the support of the working class to win. After the failure of mass demonstrations and petitions of the Chartist movement 1848, the extension of the franchise goal of the Corn Law opponents and the Radical MPs remained.

Formation of the Liberal Party

The radical parliamentarians decided to assign the middle class - their radicalism was the opposition to the domination of traditional British elites, not in a close to socialism. The Radical Whigs and Tories, some joined the opponents of Robert Peel, were formed in 1859 and the Liberal Party.

Electoral reform

1864 brought the Liberal MP William Ewart Gladstone a first very hesitant template for electoral reform. It was with the votes of the Tories that no reform, and the reform liberals, who wanted further reform, rejected what the Liberal government fell. The Tory Benjamin Disraeli became prime minister, and the new Tory minority government brought the Reform Act of 1867, which doubled the number of voters, and even the working class gave the right to vote.