Party Structure in the 1852-1857 House of Commons: A Scalogram Analysis

Abstract

Party Structure in the 1852-1857 House of Commons: A Scalogram Analysis The election of 1852 and the House of Commons which resulted from that election have provided many problems for historians interested in tracing the development of the two-party cabinet of government. The 1852-1857 House of Commons had 799 different men as members and seems have been composed of a multiplicity of political groups, none of which had a majority. There was continual shifting of alignments among the members.1 The apparent instability of this parliament resulted in three different governments being defeated during these four and one-half years. The Conservative government was defeated in 1852, the Aberdeen Coalition in I855, and the Palmerston government in I857. Historians studying the period generally agree that it is difficult to read any intelligible meaning into the party system during this parliament.2 On the basis of evidence which I have found, I believe that this position must be qualified. There appears have been a very strong relationship between a Member of Parliament's voting pattern and his party designation and clear evidence demonstrate that an M.P. frequently supported or opposed a particular government on the basis of his and the government's party designation. The evidence support these conclusions is based on an analysis of I45 division lists through the use of the computer and Guttman Scalogram Analysis, and of the debates on the issues which led these divisions.3