Claim f444a969Checked 09 Jul 2026
Partly True/FalseOn the truth scale
“From then on, general elections really mattered.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The claim is broadly true in a constitutional sense but misleading if read as a statement about popular democracy. The 1689 Bill of Rights did establish principles of “free elections” and “frequent parliaments,” and Parliament later passed the Triennial Act in 1694 providing for parliamentary elections every three years. (parliament.uk) However, UK Parliament also notes that until the later 19th and early 20th centuries only a small minority of men could vote, the Commons was dominated by rich landowners, and rotten boroughs and corruption remained serious problems. (parliament.uk) So elections did matter after the 1689 settlement, but not in the broad, modern sense implied by the claim. Sources: UK Parliament (Bill of Rights 1689; 1689-1714; The origins of Parliament; Changes in the political landscape), The National Archives (Declaration of Rights).
From article
Well, I’m Cavalier by instinct and by lifestyle. I mean, I don’t like Roundheads. You know, you can be Christian and fun or you can be Christian and, like Cromwell, be deeply puritanical and want to control everybody. So, yes, the Civil War is terribly important but I accept that there is a minor conflict in my mind on it.
Ultimately, the importance of the Civil War and the republic and what happened in the 1680s is that we put together, I think, a constitutional settlement as good as anything in the world, really. We had a system of government that we all understood. We all understood. OK, there wasn’t full emancipation, but from then on general elections really mattered. And my argument is that since [Britain joined the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union, in] 19732The year that Edward Heath’s government took Britain into what was then the European Economic Community that has gradually been diminishing, to the point now where it doesn’t really make any difference who’s in No 10. I mean, it doesn’t matter to the City any more whether it’s Tory or Labour.
Sources opened+ 50 search hits considered
| [1] | parliament.uk |
| [2] | parliament.uk |