The Birmingham Political Union was a political organisation in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 during the early nineteenth century. Founded by Thomas Attwood

Thomas Attwood

Thomas Attwood was a British economist, the leading figure of the underconsumptionist Birmingham School of economists, and, as the founder of the Birmingham Political Union, a leading figure in the public campaign for the Great Reform Act of 1832.He was born in Halesowen, and attended Halesowen...

, its original purpose was to campaign in favour of extending and redistributing suffrage rights to the working class of the kind set out in the Reform Bill of March 1831 which when passed became the 1832 Reform Act. It included both middle-class and working-class members.

Early years

The Union was founded in 1830; its first meeting was attended by approximately 15,000 people. Its stated aim was to campaign for reform of the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

, 'to be achieved by a general political union of the lower and middle classes of the people'.

Methods

Unlike some other radical political organisations of the period, the Birmingham Political Union used mainly law-abiding, non-violent methods, and had a greater claim to be a 'respectable' movement than most such organisations. However, the organisation had a large membership, and the government of the time feared the consequences if it took up arms; during the Days of May

Days of May

The Days of May was a period of social unrest and political tension in the United Kingdom that took place in May 1832, following the wrecking by Tories in the House of Lords of the Third Reform Bill, which aimed to extend parliamentary representation to the middle class and to the newly...

 in 1832, when 200,000 people attended a meeting of the Union, rumours that the Union would take up arms contributed to the pressure on the house of Lords to pass the 1832 Reform Act.

Later

After the successful passage of the Reform Act, the Birmingham Political Union disbanded. However, in 1838, Attwood announced that the organisation would be re-formed, in response to public disappointment at the limitations of the Reform Act. The Union quickly became linked with the Chartist movement (see Chartism

Chartism

Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...

).

Sources

Birmingham Political Union (act. 1829–1839), Nancy LoPatin Lummis, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP 2004-08

Britain 1783-1851; From Disaster To Triumph?, Evers and Welbourne, 2003