The Shadow of Great Britain

211: Chapter 143: Parliament Clash (7K4)_3 211: Chapter 143: Parliament Clash (7K4)_3 Once the Duke of Wellington had spoken, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Russell, the two brothers, were immediately left red-faced and thick-necked from the rebuke.

And the supporters of the Tory Party were also greatly surprised by the Prime Minister’s performance today, no one had expected the Duke of Wellington, who was usually reluctant to debate, to come out firing on all cylinders today, not even falling behind when facing the renowned debaters, the Russell brothers of the Whig Party.

Amidst the cheers from the Tory Party, the Earl Grey, the leader of the Whig Party, finally could not sit still.

“Charles Grey, Earl!”

Following the Speaker’s call, Earl Grey, like a cannonball shot from its barrel, catapulted to the lectern; he raised high a thick stack of papers in his hand and declared loudly.

“I am here today not to play dumb with the Prime Minister!

We hope to show everyone these materials in my hand, many have no idea about the urgency of ‘The Civil List Act’ and the need for parliamentary reform in Britain!

According to the investigation by the ‘People’s Friend Association’, the current Parliament is not at all a representative of the British public opinion.

In our 203 constituencies located in England, only 20 constituencies’ number of voters exceed a thousand, and the number of qualified voters in England does not exceed 4% of the total population.

And in Scotland, the situation is even worse.

In the 33 counties of Scotland, there are less than three thousand qualified voters, averaging less than a hundred people electing a member of Parliament.

If we widen this perspective to the entire country, only 400,000 out of a population of 24 million in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland are entitled to vote, constituting less than 3% of the adult population.

Apart from that, in various small boroughs, relationships are intricately intertwined, and parliamentary seats are almost bound with the land, becoming a part of some local nobility’s ancestral heritage.

The representative of Lancashire County has been surnamed Danby since the 17th century, while that of Cumberland County has always been named Reims.

If there are two powerful families locally, they will conventionally send two candidates.

This sort of two-out-of-two election is meaningless for parliamentary politics!

Moreover, in the canvassing activities, various types of fraud and corruption are not uncommon!

Under such circumstances, providing carriages for voters, entertaining them, and giving away money or gifts is considered relatively civilized!

What’s more despicable, some large landowners even threaten their tenants: If they do not vote for a certain candidate, their rent will be raised the following year or even directly deprive them of their tenancy rights.

Even some families, for the sake of a parliamentary seat, have brought along their household retainers to fight with competitors, causing injuries and disabilities!

Yet, our Government turns a deaf ear to such situations, feigning ignorance!

Is this the behavior expected from a responsible Cabinet?”

The Duke of Wellington, upon hearing this, furrowed his brows tightly despite his usual composure.

Fortunately, he had anticipated the Whig Party would seize the opportunity to cause trouble, so he had a contingency plan for how to respond.

The Duke of Wellington flipped through the materials in front of him, scanning the documents provided by the Permanent Secretary while responding.

“Violent and bribery acts during the election process are indeed contemptible, but I’m not sure where Earl Grey has gotten his information.

To my knowledge, the current situation of violent and corrupt elections in Britain has already greatly improved compared to a decade ago, with the process of democratization in Parliament steadily progressing.

Candidates nowadays, compared to their rude ancestors, prefer to lobby the voters in person months before the election, going door-to-door, the ones with ample wealth like to hire lawyers, writers to extensively promote their policies and campaign ideologies in newspapers, and quite a few candidates’ spouses also take to the streets to support their husbands at election rallies.

Within our Tory Party, we also encourage all aspiring parliamentary candidates to make frequent contact with local parish priests, intertwining the preaching activities with member election activities, allowing voters to partake in the nation’s future decision-making while listening to the gospel.

Earl Grey just now mentioned his materials come from the ‘People’s Friend Association,’ which, according to the Cabinet’s understanding, is actually sponsored by Earl Grey himself.

As for the reliability of their data, I do not believe I can pass judgment here.

Perhaps what they have described does still exist, but members of our Tory Party have always obeyed the law, conducting elections in the spirit passed down after the Glorious Revolution.

Therefore, I implore Earl Grey not to apply the situations happening within Whig constituencies to every area across the country.”

The tone of the Duke of Wellington may have sounded calm, but in fact, each sentence was laden with barbs, attempting to provoke Earl Grey.

However, Earl Grey, seasoned by several generations of Tory Party leaders, was obviously not as easily infuriated as Lord Russell.

Earl Grey spoke, “Really?

Does Your Grace believe that none of the situations I listed exist within the Tory Party?”

The Duke of Wellington replied, “The situation has greatly improved.”

Hearing this, Earl Grey simply flipped through his materials and stated, “Then let us decipher this gradually, from distant to recent.

To my knowledge, in the 1784 election, Lord Falmouth of your party spent 9,000 pounds for three seats, Lord Montagu spent 13,000 pounds for six seats, and Lord Montague was rather shrewd as he secured two seats for a mere 4,000 pounds.

And the above materials are not solely investigated by the ‘People’s Friend.’ Does the Prime Minister acknowledge the existence of such situations?”