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Opposing the king's government was considered disloyal, even treasonous, at the end of the 17th century. During the 18th century this idea waned and finally disappeared as the two party system developed. The expression "His Majesty's Opposition" was coined by John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton. In 1826, Broughton, a Whig, announced in the ...
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties [a] consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority or governing party while the other is the minority or opposition party.
Elections and political parties in the United Kingdom are affected by Duverger's law, the political science principle that states that plurality voting systems, such as first-past-the-post, tend to lead to the development of two-party systems. The UK, like several other states, has sometimes been called a "two-and-a-half party system" because ...
The Acts of Union 1707 were passed by the English and Scottish Parliaments separately and on 1 May 1707, the two countries became formally united as Great Britain. [117] This created a new parliament called the Parliament of Great Britain. [117] The Acts of Union also established a full economic union between England and Scotland.
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England (established 1215) and the Parliament of Scotland (c. 1235), both Acts of Union stating, "That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be represented by one and the same Parliament to be styled The Parliament of Great Britain."
England and Scotland each also continued to have their own system of education. Meanwhile, the War of the Spanish Succession against France was underway. It see-sawed back and forth until a more peace-minded government came to power in London and the treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt ended the war. British historian G. M. Trevelyan argues:
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. It reapportioned constituencies to address the unequal distribution of ...
The electoral system existing since 1832 was undemocratic, even though the reform led to the participation and political activity of the middle class in the country. [16] The House of Commons consisted of two deputies from each county, elected through high property census-based elections.