 Following Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the issue of parliamentary reform lay dormant until it was revived in the 1760s by the Whig Prime Minister William Pitt , 1st Earl of Chatham ( " Pitt the Elder " ) , who called borough representation " the rotten part of our Constitution " ( hence the term " rotten borough " ) . Nevertheless , he did not advocate an immediate disfranchisement of rotten boroughs . He instead proposed that a third member be added to each county , to <unk> the borough influence . The Whigs failed to unite behind the expansion of county representation ; some objected to the idea because they felt that it would give too much power to the aristocracy and gentry in rural areas . Ultimately , despite Chatham 's exertions , Parliament took no action on his proposals . The cause of parliamentary reform was next taken up by Lord Chatham 's son , William Pitt the Younger ( variously described as a Tory and as an " independent Whig " ) . Like his father , he shrank from proposing the wholesale abolition of the rotten boroughs , advocating instead an increase in county representation . The House of Commons rejected Pitt 's resolution by over 140 votes , despite receiving petitions for reform bearing over twenty thousand signatures . In 1783 , Pitt became Prime Minister but was still unable to achieve reform . King George III was averse to the idea , as were many members of Pitt 's own cabinet . In 1786 , the Prime Minister proposed a reform bill , but the House of Commons rejected it on a 174 – 248 vote . Pitt did not raise the issue again for the remainder of his term . 
