Parties, Members and Voters after 1867

Abstract

This essay¹ focuses on a distinction often made in political science between different sorts of political parties. In casting doubt upon the assumptions flowing from that concept, at least as it concerns British experience, it is intended to throw light upon political parties as they evolved in the decades after 1867, and upon their response to working-class enfranchisement. Although the focus will be on the towns of South Lancashire, particularly Salford, the conclusions are assumed to have a more general application. In any case, Lancashire — as a major urban and industrial area — was one of the key points where the party political response to the 1867 Reform Act was forged.