Rotten borough

The term rotten borough (or pocket borough, as they were seen as being "in the pocket" of a patron) refers to a parliamentary borough or constituency in the Kingdom of England (pre-1707), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801), the Kingdom of Ireland (1536-1801) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 until their final abolishment in 1867) which due to size and population, was 'controlled' by a patron and used by a patron to exercise undue and unrepresentative influence within parliament. Though rotten boroughs existed for centuries the term rotten borough only came into usage in the 18th century.

Related Topics:
Kingdom of England - Kingdom of Great Britain - Kingdom of Ireland - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - 18th century

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The true rotten borough was a borough of a ridiculously small electorate. The pocket borough was a borough constituency with a small enough electorate to be under the effective control of a major landowner.

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