The Municipal Corporation Bill proposed the replacement of 178 closed boroughs by bodies of councillors elected by ratepayers with the power to levy rates. It was partly motivated by concern for community and responsible citizenship in the localities, and partly by a desire to break open a number of Tory strongholds. The Lords' decision to hear counsel was in large part a formal move to allow the second reading of the Bill and to move to the Committee stage. The Bill received its main opposition in the House of Lords, the Commons having been largely content with it.

See The Times, 29 July 1835.