Pocket boroughs and rotten boroughs

Study note

After 1688 Britain was still far from a modern democracy. Only men who owned property of a certain value could vote, and no women could vote at all. Some seats were controlled by a single wealthy family and were called pocket boroughs, while others had hardly any voters and were called rotten boroughs.

Memory tip: Pocket borough = run by one rich family; rotten borough = almost no voters.