Despite the formalisation of parliament's powers which
came about in the Glorious Revolution, William III's
kingship was by no means limited, and politicians of both
parties were often dissatisfied at the way he abused the
prerogatives left to him after 1689. Much to the king's
disgust, Parliament responded with the Triennial Act of
1694. This set a limit of three years on the life of every
Parliament, and was the first ever statutory invasion of the
monarch's right of dissolution. The three-year timetable also
ushered in a period of intense political activity, in which the two-party division between Whigs and Tories became increasingly important, and the electorate (at this stage limited to three percent of adult males, mainly in the south of England) took an unprecedented interest in the political process.
