Chapter 2. The Rise and Fall of the University Franchise

University representation occupies a special place in the complex history of British voting rights. In part, the expansion of university representation in the 19C and 20C was a high-political process associated with the debates and deals surrounding successive measures of reform. Universities and their friends mobilised to advance their claims when proposed legislation presented opportunities for them to gain representation. In this chapter, Meisel provides a basic chronological narrative of the factors operating in both the political and the educational spheres that combined to produce the growth in the number of university seats.