Reform League - Winter of Discontent

Winter of Discontent

During the next few months the Reform League expanded its branches and demonstrations around the country. A notable success was achieved at the Birmingham Reform demonstrations on 28 Aug 1866 which allowed a Midland Department of the Reform League to be formed. This prospered and boasted almost 10,000 members and held great mass meetings at critical stages of the Reform campaign of 1867.

The Reform League thought it vital to embrace the more middle-class supporters of the Reform Union and were careful to avoid violence or illegitimate actions. Meetings were closely controlled with one reputedly having 10,000 stewards. They encouraged John Bright to speak at events as he was one of the Reform movement's intellectual leaders. Bright addressed meetings including Manchester (24 September), West Riding/Leeds (8 October), Glasgow (16 October) and Dublin (2 November).

Keen to avoid scaring their new-found middle-class supporters the Reform League's London Executive decided to avoid holding meetings in central London for a while. On 3 December 1866 thousands of League supporters marched from Whitehall to the grounds of Beaufort House, Chiswick to hold a meeting. The march was made in a dispiriting downpour, but the fine discipline displayed by the rain-sodden men gave their leaders another claim to public attention. The next day it was reported in the Times that the working men had done enough to show they were earnest in their demand for enfranchisement and asked them to stop their disturbing actions and to wait for the reforms that the Parliament was now certain to make.

In the winter of 1866 discontent increased as cold gripped the nation with great East End distress, a growing Fenian problem in Ireland and amongst the Irish in English cities, Trade Union restlessness grew and a feverish international atmosphere followed Bismarck's foundation of an apparent democracy in the North German Confederation. The Reform League continued to campaign and soon found that it was supported by most of the British working-class.