Birmingham Political Union

[1] Its stated aim was to campaign for reform of the House of Commons, politically combining "the efforts of the two "industrious classes" of the nation, that is, the middle and lower… who had been deceived into attacking and blaming each other for their sufferings".

[1] Other manufacturing towns in Britain began to follow Birmingham's example and over 100 Political Unions were formed.The Birmingham Political Union was looked upon as a model ‘due to its size, its good organisation, its unified class structure and Attwood’s articulate and sincere leadership’.

However, the organisation had a large membership, and the government of the time feared the consequences if it took up arms; during the Days of May in 1832, when 200,000 people attended a meeting of the Union, rumours that the Union would take up arms contributed to the pressure on the House of Lords to pass the 1832 Reform Act.

The Union’s working class supporters "felt betrayed and frustrated by the Reform Act's failure to give them the vote".

[3] The proceedings of the fourth annual meeting of the Union in September 1833 show clear signs of this frustration: "The Council are...compelled to acknowledge that the Reformed Parliament has disappointed the expectation of the people...The Reform Bill has had its trial, but what has been the fruit which it has produced?".