Parties, Agents and Electoral Culture in England, 1880-1910

A study of how the role of party agents grew and became professionalised in local political parties.

The electoral reforms of 1883-5 created a mass electorate and transformed English political culture. A new breed of professional organisers emerged in the constituencies in the form of full-time party agents, who handled registration, electioneering and the day-to-day political, social and educational work of local parties; they performed a vital role as intermediaries between politics at Wes...