COBBETT

After unsuccessfully standing for Manchester in December 1832, Cobbett realized his ambition and was elected for the new borough of Oldham, along with his friend John FIIELDEN (1784-1849, Industrialist and Radical MP). In Parliament, Cobbett concentrated his energies on attacking corruption in government and the 1834 Poor Law. He believed that the poor had a right to a share in the community's wealth and that the Old Poor Law was the last remaining right that English workers possessed, and which set them apart from other countries which had no such provision. Because the New Poor Law deprived the people of this right to relief, Cobbett believed that the social contract was broken and that therefore the duty of allegiance was dissolved. In the week before his death, he wrote to a friend: [B]efore the passing of the Poor-Law Bill, I wished to avoid [a] convulsive termination. I now do not wish it to be avoided.