Why is there a statue of Disraeli in Ormskirk Lancashire?

Answer 1

The roots of this answer have to do with the Reform Act of 1867. The Act did two things; it eliminated rotten boroughs and it enfranchised close to a million voters. When this Act became law, Lancashire got more seats in the House of Commons in Parliament due to the reallocation of representation. For Ormskirk, this gave them direct representation in Parliament, and it enfranchised their male citizens. Because they could now vote, they did. I surmise because Disraeli was a direct champion of this Act, they felt grateful enough to erect a statue of him. Addition by other member: It is not correct to state that the Reform Act of 1867 eliminated "rotten boroughs" - that was achieved by the Reform Act of 1832 (often referred to as the First Reform Act). The Second Reform Act (i.e. that of 1867) gave the vote to male household heads in the industrial towns, and thus helped to eliminate the 'pro-country' bias of the existing elecoral system. Moreover, Ormskirk did not achieve parliamentary represenation until 1885 - for more on this see the Wikipedia entry for Ormskirk (UK Parliamentary Constituency).