Preston was a cotton-manufacturing town in Lancashire. Preston had
first been represented in Parliament in 1295. Unlike most boroughs,
the right to vote in parliamentary elections had been granted to all
inhabitants of Preston. Although Lord Derby,
a supporter of the Whigs, controlled one
of the seats, the other MP was often someone freely elected by the
people of Preston. This created the possibility of Radical candidates
being victorious. In 1830, Henry 'Orator' Hunt,
the most prominent Radical in England, was elected to represent Preston.
In the House of Commons, Hunt often spoke on the subject of radical
reform. However, Hunt was opposed the 1832 Reform
Act as it did not grant the vote to working class males. Instead
he proposed what he called the Preston-type of universal suffrage,
"a franchise which excluded all paupers and criminals but otherwise
recognized the principle of an equality of political rights that all
who paid taxes should have the vote."
Cotton factories
in Preston in 1835
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