Chartists

1831-32, Thomas Attwood formed the Birmingham Political Union which united the working and middle classes.

There was poor economic performance 1829-30 which created the dissatisfaction necessary to give the form movement back the impetus it lost when the economy improved in 1822.

The general election followed the death of George IV, suggesting the tide in the country was for reform.

The vigour of the radical press returned, with Hetherington's Ð''Poor Man's Guardian' and Doherty's Ð''Voice of the People' gaining working class readership.

The July revolution of 1830 for the second time overthrew the Bourbon monarchy in France Ð'- this could have provided pressure on politicians to reform.

Swing Riots began in 1830 and continued during the reform crisis. Workers attached the threshing machines they felt were causing their unemployment. The Swing Riots were uncoordinated, sporadic and easily controlled, however, they alarmed the ruling class and alerted them to a mood of revolution.

Grey wanted to introduce legislation quickly to end the crisis. The Whigs deftly forged a new alliance Ð'- the middle class and the aristocracy. The middle class were not natural allies of the working class Ð'- they feared mob rule as much as the aristocracies.

Radicals and some working class hoped reform would usher in a new era of change to better their lives. Grey had no intention of such radical reforms.

The Whigs were defenders of the aristocracy, reluctant and opportunistic supporters of the middle class, and seeking to further their own supremacy.

In the general election in1831 the Whigs won a majority of seats. Few MPs in large constituencies survived if they did not support reform.