The Great Reform Act made some minor changes to the parliamentary boundaries of the county, transferring parts of five parishes to neighbouring counties while annexing parts of four other parishes which had previously been in Wiltshire.
Although local landowners could never control a county the size of Berkshire in the way they could own a pocket borough, titled magnates still exercised considerable influence over deferential county voters: in the early 19th century Lord Craven and Lord Braybrooke were considered the "patrons" of the Berkshire constituency and could usually persuade the voters to support their favoured candidates.
In 1880, according to the report in The Times (of London), the ballot boxes were taken to Reading for the count and declaration of the result, instead of these taking place at Abingdon as had happened previously.
Before the Reform Act 1832 it was normal for voters to expect the candidates for whom they voted to meet their expenses in travelling to the poll and to provide food, liquor and lodgings when they arrived, making the cost of a contested election in some counties prohibitive, but this was less of a factor in a comparatively small county like Berkshire, and contested elections were not uncommon.
Nevertheless, potential candidates preferred to canvass support beforehand and usually did not insist on a vote being taken unless they were confident of winning.
Under the Great Reform Act 1832, the county franchise was extended to occupiers of land worth £50 or more, as well as the forty-shilling freeholders, and Berkshire was given a third MP.
Early Parliaments usually only sat for a few days or weeks, so dissolutions in the same year as the first meeting are not recorded in this list.
The candidate might have been associated with a party or faction in Parliament or consider himself to belong to a particular political tradition.
Sources: The results are based on the History of Parliament Trust's volumes on the House of Commons in various periods for 1660–1820, Stooks Smith from 1820 until 1832 and Craig from 1832.