First Protectorate Parliament facts for kids
The First Protectorate Parliament was a special meeting of lawmakers called by Oliver Cromwell. He was the leader of England at the time, known as the Lord Protector. This Parliament met from September 3, 1654, to January 22, 1655. Its main job was to help Cromwell govern England under a new set of rules called the Instrument of Government. William Lenthall was the Speaker, which means he was in charge of leading the meetings.
Cromwell and his team, the Council of State, spent nine months preparing 84 new laws for the Parliament to approve. However, the members of Parliament had their own ideas and wanted to represent the people who elected them. Many members did not agree with Cromwell's plans or with the Instrument of Government. Because of this, they didn't pass any of the 84 laws. Cromwell had to close the Parliament as soon as the rules allowed, since they couldn't agree on anything important.
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How Members of Parliament Were Chosen
The Instrument of Government changed how members were chosen for Parliament. It set out how many representatives each town (called a borough) and county in England and Wales could send. There were 400 members in total.
Fairer Representation
One big change was getting rid of "rotten boroughs." These were small towns that had very few people but still got to send members to Parliament. This wasn't fair to bigger towns. For the first time, important cities like Leeds and Manchester got their own representatives. All the traditional counties were represented, with Durham joining for the first time. Some parts of counties also got their own seats.
This was the first time that Parliament seats were shared out more fairly in English history. It was a huge step towards making Parliament more representative of the people. This kind of change wouldn't happen again until the Reform Act 1832, many years later.
Scotland and Ireland Join In
For the first time ever, Scotland and Ireland also sent members to the Parliament in Westminster (where the English Parliament met). Scotland sent 30 members and Ireland also sent 30 members. This meant that the Parliament was starting to represent more of the British Isles.
What Happened Next
The First Protectorate Parliament didn't last long because Cromwell and the members couldn't agree. It was followed by the Second Protectorate Parliament.
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