pocket borough

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʌɹə

Noun

pocket borough (plural pocket boroughs)

1. (historical) A borough which could effectively be controlled by a single person who owned at least half of the "burgage tenements" (whose occupants had the right to vote in the borough's parliamentary elections), since he could populate these tenements with his own supporters.

Synonyms

• close borough

See also

• rotten borough