Radicals (UK) - Parliamentary Radicals

Parliamentary Radicals

The Whig Reform Act 1832 enfranchised the middle classes, but failed to meet radical demands, particularly for universal male suffrage. The mainly aristocratic Whigs in the House of Commons were then joined by a small number of parliamentary Radicals who continued to demand the vote for working class males, as well as an increased number of middle class Whigs. The popular demand for wider suffrage was then taken up by the working class Chartists. By 1839 the Whigs and Radicals in parliament were informally being called “the Liberal party.”

The middle class Anti-Corn Law League founded in 1839, led by Richard Cobden and John Bright, opposed duties on imported grain which raised the price of food to help landowners but harmed manufacturers. They sought working class support and attacked "feudalism", but disagreed with the leadership and tactics of the Chartists. After the failure of Chartist mass demonstrations and petitions in 1848 to sway parliament, widening suffrage was left to the Anti-Corn Law Leaguers and to the parliamentary radicals.