Friends of the People

views updated

Friends of the People was an association of radical Whig aristocrats and parliamentarians launched in 1792 by Lord John Russell, Charles Grey, and their friends. It advocated moderate parliamentary reform as a means of preserving the constitution. Welcomed at first by other reform bodies, the Friends quickly became distrusted by plebeian and middle-class radicals on the one hand, and by the government and conservative Whigs on the other, and ceased to operate after 1795. Their most important contribution to the reform cause was probably their report on the state of parliamentary representation, corruption, and influence.

John F. C. Harrison

More From encyclopedia.com