United Kingdom general election, 1859

United Kingdom general election, 1859
28 April – 18 May 1859 (1859-04-28 – 1859-05-18)
All 654 seats in the House of Commons
328 seats needed for a majority

  First party Second party
 
Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of Derby
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 6 February 1855 July 1846
Leader's seat Tiverton House of Lords
Last election 377 seats, 65.9% 264 seats, 34.0%
Seats won 356 298
Seat change Decrease21 Increase34
Popular vote 372,117 193,232
Percentage 65.7% 34.3%
Swing Decrease0.2% Increase0.3%
Largest party in each constituent country
Prime Minister before election

Earl of Derby
Conservative

 Appointed Prime Minister

Viscount Palmerston
Whig

In the 1859 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, held their majority in the House of Commons over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives. This election is also considered to be the first to be contested by the Liberal Party—a name unofficially adopted to cover the alliance of Whigs, Peelites, Radicals and Irish Brigade who had previously voted against the Derby administration in the House of Commons that had led to the election. It was also the last general election entered by the Chartists, before their organisation was dissolved. As of 2018 this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales,[1] as well as being the last election to date in which the Conservative Party took less than a third of the vote in England.

The election was the quietest and least competitive between 1832 and 1885, with most county elections being uncontested. The election also saw the lowest number of candidates between 1832 and 1885, with Tory gains potentially being the result of a lack of opposition as much as a change in public opinion.[2]

Results

UK General Election 1859
Party Candidates Votes
Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % № Net %
  Liberal 356 −21 54.43 65.80 372,117 −0.2
  Conservative 298 +34 45.57 34.17 193,232 +0.3
  Chartist 0 0 0 0 0 0.03 151 −0.1

Regional results

Great Britain

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Liberal 392 157 306 314,708 66.6
Conservative & Peelites 327 160 245 157,974 33.4
Chartist 1 0 0 151 0.0
Total 720 317 551 Same position 472,833 100
England
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Liberal 330 109 251 307,949 67.1
Conservative & Peelite 286 129 209 152,591 32.9
Chartist 1 0 0 151 0.0
Total 617 238 460 Same position 460,691 100
Scotland
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Liberal 44 34 40 5,174 66.4
Conservative & Peelite 17 11 13 2,616 33.6
Total 61 45 53 Same position 7,790 100
Wales
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Conservative & Peelite 18 14 17 2,767 63.6
Liberal 18 14 15 1,585 36.4
Total 36 28 32 Same position 4,352 100

Ireland

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Irish Conservative & Peelite 67 36 53 35,258 38.9
Liberal 73 26 50 57,409 61.1
Total 140 62 103 92,667 100

Universities

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change
Conservative & Peelite 6 6 6
Total 6 6 6 Same position 100

References

  1. ↑ Scully, Roger, "Why Wales decided to forgive the Tories", spectator.co.uk, retrieved 4 May 2017
  2. ↑ Hawkins, A., Parliament, Party and the Art of Politics in Britain, 1855–59, p. 377

Sources

  • Craig, F. W. S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302
  • Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd
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