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.
Last modified 26 June 2002