Montfort’s Great Parliament of 1265 (De Montfort's…

Montfort’s Great Parliament of 1265 (De Montfort's Parliament), summoned on December 14, 1264, first meets on January 20, 1265 at Westminster Hall and on February 15, 1265, is dissolved.

It is a packed assembly to be sure, but it can hardly be supposed that the representation which he has granted to the towns is intended to be a temporary expedient.

Montfort had sent his summons, in the king's name, to each county and to a select list of boroughs, asking each to send two representatives.

This body was not the first elected parliament in England.

When Henry was in Gascony in 1254 and in need of money, he had given instructions for his regent, Queen Eleanor, to summon a parliament consisting of knights elected by their shires to ask for this 'aid'.

Montfort, who was in that parliament, has taken the innovation further by including ordinary citizens from the boroughs, also elected, and it is from this period that parliamentary representation derives.

The list of boroughs which have the right to elect a member will grow slowly over the centuries as monarchs grant charters to more English towns. (The last charter will be given in 1674 to Newark.)

The right to vote in Parliamentary elections for county constituencies is uniform throughout the country, granting a vote to all those who own the freehold of land to an annual rent of forty shillings (‘Forty-shilling Freeholders’).

The electoral franchise varies in the Boroughs, individual boroughs having varying arrangements.