Representation of the People Act 1949
Encyclopedia
The Representation of the People Act 1949 was an Act
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. The Act consolidated previous electoral law, but also made some changes to administration.
The principal change was to provide for the conduct of future reviews of Parliamentary boundaries by the permanent Parliamentary Boundary Commissions. The Act also abolished the terms 'Parliamentary Borough' and 'Parliamentary County', renaming them 'Borough constituency' and 'County constituency', abolished the university constituencies
, and removed a requirement that the City of London
form its own constituency. The Boundary Commissions were instructed to review all boundaries within 3-7 years from the Act coming into force, and thereafter to review the boundaries periodically.
In addition the Act made some changes to the franchise, removing the remaining provisions allowing plural voting
by people who owned business premises. From this point forward, there was a single electoral register
for both local government and Parliamentary elections and each voter was only allowed to vote once in any general election even if they happened to be registered in more than one address for local elections.
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. The Act consolidated previous electoral law, but also made some changes to administration.
The principal change was to provide for the conduct of future reviews of Parliamentary boundaries by the permanent Parliamentary Boundary Commissions. The Act also abolished the terms 'Parliamentary Borough' and 'Parliamentary County', renaming them 'Borough constituency' and 'County constituency', abolished the university constituencies
University constituency
A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents a university rather than a geographical area. University constituencies may involve plural voting, in which eligible voters are permitted to vote in both a university constituency and a geographical...
, and removed a requirement that the City of London
City of London (UK Parliament constituency)
The City of London was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.-Boundaries and boundary...
form its own constituency. The Boundary Commissions were instructed to review all boundaries within 3-7 years from the Act coming into force, and thereafter to review the boundaries periodically.
In addition the Act made some changes to the franchise, removing the remaining provisions allowing plural voting
Plural voting
Plural voting is the practice whereby one person might be able to vote multiple times in an election. It is not to be confused with a plurality voting system which does not necessarily involve plural voting...
by people who owned business premises. From this point forward, there was a single electoral register
Electoral register
The electoral roll is a listing of all those registered to vote in a particular area. The register facilitates the process of voting, helps to prevent fraud and may also be used to select people for jury duty...
for both local government and Parliamentary elections and each voter was only allowed to vote once in any general election even if they happened to be registered in more than one address for local elections.