The Constitutional History of England from 1760 to 1860

But the Reform Bill conferred political power on classes which had never before been admitted to be entitled to it and their enfranchisement could not fail to give a wholly new and democratic tinge to the government which has been visible in its effect on the policy of all subsequent administrations. And besides this great measure, the passing of which has often been called a new Revolution and the other reforms, municipal and ecclesiastical which were its immediate and almost inevitable fruits, the century which followed the accession of George III.