1832 revisited?

Is the British political system, as Sir Christopher Meyer suggested yesterday, in need of an 1832 cure? This was the year of the Great Reform Act which criminalised the ‘cash-for constituencies’ culture which had emerged and partially extended the franchise.

The ‘Great’ in the title is slightly misleading. The Act did not represent a scythe through the wilted political garden, but rather a pruning instrument.

In the case of universal suffrage, for example it was another 96 years before women were given the right to vote and the process of change is still ongoing, with a debate emerging over whether or not all prisoners should be prohibited from voting.

For this reason 1832 is probably not a template we should consider using. There are undoubtedly serious constitutional issues to address but MPs expenses should not be the catalyst for a catch all Constitutional Reform Act 2009/2010 or indeed another Great Reform Act.