Known as the Peterloo Massacre, this event was a turning point in the Reform Movement's progress towards universal suffrage. Four hundred people were killed when the Yeomanry, composed in large measure of middle class volunteers opposed to the Reform Movement's aim of extending suffrage to industrial towns and cities, enthusiastically rode to disperse the crowd.

The Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832 was to begin the process of dismantling the system of Pocket and Rotten Boroughs and extending the franchise to towns and cities which had never before been represented in Parliament.