Party Policy for Conservatives

How far was political opportunism the main reason for the reform of the franchise and the electoral system between 1868 and 1918?
The extent of democracy within Britain changed dramatically during the period from 1868 and 1918. This is due to the fact that at the start of the period, following the 1867 Reform Act, less than a third of men in Wales and England had the vote yet by 1918 nearly all men had the privilege of the vote whilst women also accounted for 43% of the electorate. At the start of the period, political opportunism was the key factor in the passing of the reform of the franchise and the electoral system yet towards the end of the period, social and economic pressure began to take the role as the more influential cause.   However, overall, political opportunism was the main reason for the reform on the franchise and electoral system between 1868 and 1918 whilst social pressure also played a significant role during the period. Finally, socio (economic) pressure also played the least important part in pushing the reform of the franchise and the electoral system between 1868 and 1918.
Firstly, the most pivotal and crucial reason for the reform of the franchise and the electoral system between 1868 and 1918 was the influence of political opportunism since it was demonstrated consistently in all the acts and had remained as crucial at the end as at the start of the period. Firstly, political opportunism played a key role in the motion for the passing of the 1872 Secret Ballot Act. The Liberals who were in power at the time, believed that the Conservatives were using corruption in order to gain more votes. In particular this included the fact that Conservative Landowners would intimidate their tenants to vote for the party and would often add the threat of potential eviction if they didn’t comply. Consequently, the Secret Ballot Act helped to eradicate this form of corruption since people now had privacy when they voted in the secret ballot, thus helping...