Based on an extensive range of sources, this impressive book analyses the principal institutions and features of British politics on the eve of reform: the monarchy, the prime ministership, the cabinet, the departments of State, parliamentary legislation, investigation, debate and parties, and the relationship between Parliament, the media, public opinion and popular politics. Designed to provide an accessible guide to how British politics was conducted in the early nineteenth century, this book leads to two main conclusions about pre-Reform politics: the unpredictability and openness of parliamentary affairs, and the centrality of Parliament to the politics of all social classes.

British Politics in an Age of Reform is a detailed examination of the political history of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century Britain. It evaluates recent research, links the politics of the elite with the politics of the people, and seeks to explain significant developments. Among the issues addressed are: the relative powers of crown, cabinet and parliament between 1760 and 1832; the impact on domestic politics of revolution and war abroad; the growth of radicalism and popular political activity; agitation for reform and the responses of government; the rise of party; the connections between extra-parliamentary pressure and instability at the center of power.

Gladstone's second ministry was one of failure and frustration. Even Liberal apologists and the party faithful could find little more than the Reform Act to offset the record of disasters abroad or the disruption of Irishmen at home. For some it was sufficient, and 1884 was a landmark comparable to 1689. But this book is not a chronicle of electoral revolution; rather, it traces the purposes of politicians through those months when legislative activity was concentrated on Franchise and Redistribution. Light is shed on Gladstone's control over both Cabinet and Commons, on Salisbury's emergence as party leader from Conservative chaos after Disraeli's death, and on the anti-democratic nature of Parnell's party. The essential argument is that the British political world of the 1880s was a world unto itself. Dr Jones is concerned with the complex political interaction of personalities and groupings in this select society at a time of particular historical interest, when parties were on the eve of their fracture and realignment over Home Rule.