This is the last Chartist petition presented to Parliament. A new Chartist determination, led by Feargus O’Connor, collected over 5 million signatures on behalf of the Chartist movement. The Chartists and the petition represented a desire to see that all adult men, regardless of social position be given the right to vote. It also campaigned for annual elections to Parliament, equal numbers of voters in each constituency, pay for MPs, and vote by Secret Ballot. Unfortunately, Parliament would later vote against the petition by 222 votes to 17. While the Chartists were not successful at the time, by 1918 all but one of their original demands had been pass by Parliament
The UK population at the time was just over 15 million to give a sense of the reach the petition achieved. Of course in a Parliament elected with a very partial suffrage MPs rejected it, but as the Parliamentary note above records there was no doubt which way the wind was blowing.
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