The 1832 Reform Act and the end of rotten boroughs

When did Britain end the rotten boroughs?

Mostly with the Reform Act of 1832, which disenfranchised fifty-six boroughs; modern uses of the label are looser analogies.

The formal historical answer is the Reform Act of 1832, which disenfranchised fifty-six boroughs. Rotten borough is still used loosely for uncontested wards or seats thought to guarantee a councillor, although that is an analogy rather than the old franchise structure. National parties may place paper candidates on every ballot while directing serious campaign resources only toward plausible contests. A personal campaign example, in which paper candidates unexpectedly won, shows how local returns can defeat those assumptions. British local elections remain retail politics, where door-to-door contact and constituency issues can outweigh national polling.