This book is an account of the life and work of Thomas Hare (1806–1891) as a political theorist within the context of the history of party politics in Victorian Britain. It focuses on his principle of personal representation and its association with proportional representation, in opposition to the principle of virtual representation. By linking this debate to contemporary arguments over parliamentary reform, the book demonstrates the relation between political theory and party politics. In so doing, it clarifies the vocabulary concerning Victorian political representation and the debates surrounding it, both inside and outside Parliament. Framed from this perspective, the figure of Thomas Hare emerges from the shadow of John Stuart Mill and assumes a more central position in the history of the theory and practice of political representation in Victorian Britain.

Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I
The Life and Work of Thomas Hare, 1806-1891
PART II
Personal Represenation and the Clerisy, 1857-1859
Personal Representation and the Second Reform Act, 1859-1867
The Representative Reform Association, 1867-1874
Proportional Representation and Caucus, 1874-1884
The Proportional Representation Society and the Third Reform Act, 1884-1888
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

F. D. PARSONS  holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge where he studied under the late Dr Henry Pelling at St John's College. Since 1981 he has been a Professor of History at Franklin College Switzerland.