PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
175th ANNIVERSARY OF THE LAUNCH OF THE PEOPLE'S CHARTER (13 February 2013)

That this House celebrates the 175th anniversary of the launch of the People's Charter on 8 May 1838 which was a blue print for our Parliamentary democracy; salutes the men and women of the Chartist Movement across the UK who sacrificed so much to achieve universal adult suffrage; acknowledges the Black Chartist leader William Cuffay and others who were transported to Australia for striving for political justice; recognises that it was left to the Suffragist and Suffragette movements to win universal female suffrage; notes the subsequent roles of political parties in legislating for many of the Chartist demands including the secret ballot; and welcomes the work of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History to commemorate in appropriate ways the debt that all parliaments owe to the selfless campaigning of the Chartists in achieving democracies in many countries.

Sponsored by:
Dr Hywel Francis (Labour)