It is true that Disraeli yielded to amendments on many points: a residence requirement which came to be twelve months instead of two years, inclusion of a lodger franchise, elimination of a dual-vote proposition, a lower occupation franchise in the counties, etc., but he did not yield to Gladstone's demand for a £5 rating franchise; rather he insisted on the proposition that every householder paying his own rates, if he met other qualifications, should have the right to vote. When a later amendment did away with compounding, thereby putting all occupiers of tenements upon the electoral lists, Disraeli's acceptance of the proposition really brought household suffrage to the nation's borough population.

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Last modified 26 June 2002