Mapping the State: English Boundaries and the 1832 Reform Act(New Historical Perspectives)

The 1832 Reform Act was a landmark moment in the development of modern British politics. By overhauling the country’s ancient representative system, the legislation reshaped constitutional arrangements at Westminster, reinvigorated political relationships between the centre and the provinces, and established the political structures and precedents that both shaped and hindered electoral reform over the following century.

Mapping the State leads to a fundamental rethinking of the 1832 Reform Act by demonstrating how boundary reform, and the reconstruction of England’s electoral map by the little-known 1831–2 boundary commission, underpinned this turning point in the development of the British political nation. Eschewing traditional approaches to the 1832 Reform Act, it draws from a significant new archival discovery – the working papers of the boundary commission – and a range of innovative quantitative techniques to provide a major reassessment of why and how the 1832 Reform Act passed, its impact on reformed politics both at Westminster and in the constituencies, and its significance to the expansion of the modern British state.

• Introduction

  Part I Envisioning England’s reformed electoral map

• 1 A balancing Act? Interests and parliamentary reform, 1780-1832
• 2 ‘The most unpopular part of the bill throughout the country’: reintegrating boundaries into the story of reform
• 3 Towards a science of government: the ‘spirit of inquiry’ and the establishment of the 1831-2 boundary commission

• 4 Whipped by the beadles? Data-gathering for the boundary commission

  Part II Redrawing England’s electoral map

• Chronology and voting data
• 5 ‘The work we are engaged in is intended to last for a century’: redrawing England’s ancient electoral map
• 6 The Droitwich dilemma: interests, grouping and the multiple parish borough
• 7‘All the kindred interests of the town and neighbourhood’: new borough limits
• 8 Under the knife: reconstructing the county map
• Conclusion

'An original study that excavates the important role of the boundary commissioners in shaping the 1832 Reform Act and post-reform electoral politics. Based on deep archival research and methodologically innovative, Spychal’s book opens up a significant new dimension for all those interested in the evolution of British democracy.'
—Henry Miller, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, Department of the Humanities, Northumbria University, UK

'A meticulously researched and fascinating study of the ways in which the charting of constituency boundaries transformed the electoral landscape in 1832 and thereafter. Mapping the State offers a unique insight into a pivotal moment in the shaping of modern politics and reminds us that where voters are situated may matter more than their numbers.'
—Sarah Richardson, Professor of Modern British History, University of Glasgow, UK