rotten borough

Definitions

1. A parliamentary borough that was represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly that they were largely controlled by the main landowner; such boroughs were abolished in the 19th century.
   UK, historical
2. A parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation.
   UK, broadly

Equivalents

Examples

“[…] Queen's Crawley was no longer so populous a place⟳ as it had been in Queen Bess's time—nay, was come⟳ down to that condition of borough which used to be denominated rotten–yet, as Sir Pitt Crawley would say⟳ with perfect justice in his elegant way, "Rotten! be hanged—it produces me a good fifteen hundred a year."”

CEFR level