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what did the reform bill of 1832 address

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Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The Reform Bill of 1832 (commonly called the Great Reform Act) reformed the British parliamentary system. Key things it addressed:

- Abolished many "rotten" and "pocket" boroughs with tiny electorates and redistributed their seats to growing industrial towns and counties (e.g., Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds).
- Standardized and slightly broadened the franchise in boroughs by giving the vote to householders with property or rent worth £10 a year; county voting qualifications were also clarified/expanded.
- Increased the size of the electorate substantially (roughly from about 435,000 to about 652,000 men).
- Reduced some of the worst abuses and corruption in representation and made constituency boundaries more reflective of population shifts.

Significance and limits: it was an important first step toward parliamentary reform and greater political representation for the middle classes, but voting remained property-based (no universal male suffrage and women were excluded), and many working-class people still could not vote. The Act received Royal Assent on 7 June 1832.