I’m sure we all remember what happened in London, on this day in 1842. No? Then let me remind you of one of the greatest displays of radical political feeling ever to have graced the capital.
On this day the Chartist movement with its millions of followers presented their six point charter to Parliament, their intention, political reform on a scale never seen before.
A movement borne of economic strife that was culturally inclusive and had reform of the political system at its heart. This was the culmination of years of workers being downtrodden and ignored.
3,317,752 men, women and children signed a mammoth petition demanding six key changes:
- Universal male suffrage
- Voting by secret ballot
- No property qualification for MP’s
- MP’s should be paid
- Each constituency should be of equal size
- Annual parliaments
This National Petition of 1842 was the greatest expression of protest in favour of democracy that has ever occurred in British history. So why might you never have heard about it? Probably because it didn’t lead to reform at the time. As you can see from the list above, most of the aims are now familiar to us and have been enshrined in our political system today.
So, ordinary people pulling together in times of economic crisis, something that still resonates now. Maybe Chartism will rear its head again in one form or another – anyone with me?!
Janet Stock 