How far did Disraeli’s social reforms
exhibit ‘Disraelian Conservatism’?
Aims: to be able to describe the social reforms
introduced by Disraeli, identifying opposition
and links to Gladstone’s reforms
To judge whether they were ‘Disraelian’ in
nature.
Which social reform belongs to which leader?
Forster’s
Education Act
Conspiracy and
Protection of
Property Act
Artisans’
Dwellings Act
Civil Service
Act
Secret Ballot
Act
Public Health
Act
Disraeli’s Social/ Domestic Reforms
Name/ Date of
Social Reform
What the reform was trying to
achieve
Factory Act 1874
•
•
•
•
•
Licensing Act 1874
•
•
Public Worship Act
1874
Sale of Food and
Drugs 1875
•
•
Source of / reasons for opposition/ way
in which Disraeli was responding to
Gladstone’s Domestic reforms
Max hours for women and children
to be 56.5 per week
Children under 10 not to be
employed
No full time work until a child was 14
•
Opening hours extended by 30 mins
Clauses from 1872 Act to stop
watering of beer removed
Fewer police rights to enter pubs
.An Act designed to suppress the
growth of ritualism in the C of E.
•
•
•
Est. rules for preparation of food for
sale
Set up inspectors to detect adulterated
food e.g. chalk in flour
Reward brewers and publicans for
their support in the election
Sop to brewers/ publicans upset by
1872 legislation
The imprisonment of four priests
for contumacy between 1877 and
1882 discredited the Act.
No compulsion for local authorities
to appoint inspectors, so not
effective
Name/ Date of
Social Reform
What the reform was trying to
achieve
Source of / reasons for opposition/ way in
which Disraeli was responding to
Gladstone’s Domestic reforms
Agricultural
Holdings Act 1875
Revamped the law on tenant rights so tenants received
consistent levels of compensation for the value of their
improvements to the holding and any crops in the
ground. It also gave tenants the right to remove fixtures
they had provided, increased the period of a Notice to
Quit from six months to twelve, and brought in an
agricultural dispute resolution procedure
Some Landlords reacted to the 1875 Act
by refusing to let land on a tenancy,
instead contracting out the labour to
contract farmers.
Artisans’ Dwelling
Act 1875
•
Local authorities could buy slums
and rebuild with more sanitary
houses
•
•
•
Influenced by Cholera outbreak 1866-7
No compulsion so generally ignored
Joseph Chamberlain (Birmingham used
to great effect)
Conspiracy and
Protection of
Property Act 1875
•
•
Peaceful picketing became legal
Unions could act legally as a group
and so could strike
•
Liberal Act of 1871 had been very
unpopular
Employers and
Workmen Act 1875
•
Replaced Master and Servant Act with more
equal terms
Both employers and workmen were on equal
footing in cases of breach of contract
It became a civil offence to break contracts
•
•
Friendly Societies
Act 1875
Societies provided insurance for w/c
Royal Commission set up as there were fears they were
financially unsound
Societies to register voluntarily
Table of model premiums drawn up but permissive
Infants could still be insured but for limited amounts
Name/ Date of
Social Reform
What the reform was trying to
achieve
Public Health
Act 1875
• Local authorities to provide adequate
drainage, water supply and sewage disposal
• Offensive items in streets to be removed
• Markets, street lighting and burial regulated
• Infections diseases notified
Rivers Pollution Act
1875
• Noxious substances not to be dumped in
rivers
• Prosecution needed local government
permission so rarely happened
Education Act 1876
• Local School Attendance Committees made
attendance compulsory
• Children under 10 not to be employed
• Children aged 10-14 could work part time if they
had a certificate of attendance and academic
attainment
• Unnecessary school boards could be dissolved
Source of / reasons for opposition/ way in
which Disraeli was responding to
Gladstone’s Domestic reforms
• Based on Royal Commission
• Aim was to help Anglican schools in
competition with rate-funded board
schools
Enclosures Act 1876
• Common land to be preserved for public
use. Led to the ‘green belt’
• Epping Forest safeguarded for Londoners’
recreation in 1878 as a result
Merchant Shipping
Act 1876
• Stop-gap measure
• Plimsoll line to be painted on ships to
• Pressure from Samuel Plimsoll and Tory
show the max loading point. In reality
MPs for ports to stop overloading ships
painted on ships wherever owner wanted
so did little to ensure safety of sailors
Name/ Date of
Social Reform
What the reform was trying to
achieve
Trade Union
Amendment Act
1876
•
Factory and
Workshops Act
1878
The Trade Union Amendment Act 1876
extended protection of funds to all trade
unions, not just to those which would
otherwise have been 'in restraint of
trade'.
• Local authorities to inspect workshops
employing fewer than 50 people
Source of / reasons for opposition/ way in
which Disraeli was responding to
Gladstone’s Domestic reforms
How far did Disraeli’s social reforms
exhibit ‘Disraelian Conservatism’?
Not Disraelian Conservatism
In which case what
would you call it?
Disraelian Conservatism