Rotten and Pocket Boroughs - Pocket Boroughs

Pocket Boroughs

A closely related term for an undemocratic constituency is pocket borough – a constituency with a small enough electorate to be under the effective control (or in the pocket) of one major landowner.

In some boroughs, while not "rotten", parliamentary representation was in the control of one or more "patrons" who, by owning burgage tenements, had the power to decide elections, as their tenants had to vote publicly and dared not defy their landlords. Such patronage flourished before the mid-19th century, chiefly because there was no secret ballot. Some rich individuals controlled several boroughs–the Duke of Newcastle is said to have had seven boroughs "in his pocket". The representative of a pocket borough was often the same person who owned the land, and for this reason they were also referred to as proprietarial boroughs.

Pocket boroughs were seen by their 19th century owners as a valuable method of ensuring the representation of the landed interest in the House of Commons.

Pocket boroughs were finally abolished by the Reform Act of 1867. This considerably extended the borough franchise and established the principle that each parliamentary constituency should hold roughly the same number of electors. A Boundary Commission was set up by subsequent Acts of Parliament to maintain this principle as population movements continued.