This book provides a short, incisive analysis of British politics before the passing of the Great Reform Act in 1832 and the Redistribution of Seats Act in 1885. The author examines political institutions, contemporary views of the nature of politics at local, constituency and national level. He shows how many of the corrupt political practices of the early nineteenth century persisted during the period, and how, in the face of this, electioneering gradually increased in its sophistication and professionalism.